Restless
by Jelp
Summary: Naruto's restless sleeping habits aren't keeping him awake at night, but they sure are keeping Sasuke up. What's a guy supposed to do when his teammate is molesting him in the middle of the night and the blond doesn't even realize it? SasuNaruSasu
1. Chapter 1: Restless Sleeper

**Disclaimer:** I own Naruto, and I can prove it. I have fourteen-dubbed manga, four Japanese manga, one Japanese character guide, one Naruto CD, three Naruto key chains, four plushies, four Naruto pins, one pair of Naruto boxers (actually, they've got Sasuke on them), and one Naruto T-shirt.

Ohhhhh! You mean the copyright? Nope. Don't own it.

**Time Frame for Entire fic**: From Before Chuunin exam to time skip and beyond.

**Warning:** Sexual situations between male/male characters, and mild spoilers for the new manga arc – but not until chapter 12.

This chapter has been edited. That being said, it may still need editing done to it. If you see any mistakes e-mail, leave a review, or personal message me about it. :-)

**Restless**

**Chapter 1: Restless Sleeper**

Uzumaki Naruto had a tendency to move around in his sleep. Having been an orphan and thus never having had anyone to tell him that he moved around a lot, Naruto never cared that he usually woke up sprawled across his bed because, frankly, it didn't matter. So when Team 7 went out on their first assignment that called for all of the teammates to share the same tent, Naruto did not bother to mention that he might need a little bit extra room during the middle of the night because unfortunately, he didn't know. So when Sakura ended up between Sasuke and Naruto (much to Sasuke's dislike at having to be next to Sakura, and Sakura's dislike of being next to Naruto, but happiness at being close to her Sasuke-kun, and Naruto's happiness of being next to his Sakura-chan) the sleeping arrangements honestly seemed fine.

It was with great alarm that Kakashi - who was scouting the border - heard Sakura scream bloody murder from inside the tent. He raced back only to find that poor Naruto had accidentally rolled over in his sleep on top of Sakura, who promptly pushed him off, screamed, and began to beat Naruto to death. Kakashi heard Naruto's desperate explanation as Sakura continued to beat him. Kakashi sighed. Clearly Naruto's inability to stay still while awake carried over into his nightly sleeping pattern.

"Oi, Sakura. Stop killing Naruto," Kakashi ordered. Sakura reluctantly stopped. Naruto, his body covered in lumps from the pounding, groaned and fell backward. Sasuke gave a small growl at Naruto AND Sakura. His glare clearly read "wake me up and die!" Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow and made a mental note not to wake Sasuke if at all possible; he seemed quite cranky when woken unexpectedly.

"Sakura, I think Naruto is probably just a restless sleeper. Sasuke, sleep in between Naruto and Sakura," Sakura, who had been glaring daggers at Naruto, broke into a large smile once she realized she was going to sleep next to Sasuke and not Naruto! Sasuke grunted, just wanting to go back to sleep.

"No one better role on me while I'm sleeping. I hate being woken up," Sasuke threatened, and Naruto gulped ever so slightly. The happy grin on Sakura's face faltered slightly, and Kakashi wondered if Sasuke had purposefully said "no one" rather than just Naruto to prevent Sakura from pretending to accidentally role on top of him. By Sakura's expression, she probably had been planning just that. With the threat of being harmed by both Sakura AND Sasuke, Naruto grumbled and headed back to his sleeping mat, putting clothes and what not between him and Sasuke to help stopper his rolling.

Naruto became fairly good at not rolling around in his sleep (although Sasuke did have to punch him back over to his side a few times in the beginning). Team 7 still made Naruto sleep at one end with Sasuke in between him and either Kakashi or Sakura.

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Months passed before Sasuke found himself the victim of Naruto's inability to stay in one spot while he was sleeping. Before when Naruto had accidentally rolled over into Sasuke's personal bubble, only a random arm or leg would end up on the other side of the mini barrier Naruto tended to create, and Sasuke could push one of Naruto's limbs back over onto Naruto's own side. However, since Naruto had started to move around less and less, he had stopped putting things between them.

Sasuke felt a slight _woosh_ of air leave his lungs as Naruto rolled heavily on top of his chest. Sasuke grunted annoyed at the offending object on his chest, aka Naruto. For someone who seemed so small, Naruto was still heavy as a sleeping dead weight.

"Dobe," Sasuke grumbled as he pushed Naruto off of him and over onto Naruto's side of the tent. Sasuke wasn't expecting it when Naruto pulled back at Sasuke, catching him around the neck, forcing Sasuke to topple over onto to Naruto. He managed to catch himself before applying his full weight onto Naruto who, for his part, seemed completely oblivious that he had just rolled over and been pushed back to his sleeping mat. Sasuke's face reddened slightly. The way his arms were, and the way that his legs were now intertwined with Naruto's was quite indecent, and he knew if someone had been watching this, that it would look scandalous. Still supporting his upper body weight with his arms, Sasuke tried to untangle his legs without waking Naruto; that would be only too awkward, and since this _was_ Naruto, and he would probably try and blame Sasuke and wake everyone in the tent up. Poor Sasuke found, much to his growing horror, that when he tried to move his legs, Naruto seemed to move his body against Sasuke's.

Heat rose to his face in full force as he realized just exactly _what_ Naruto was rubbing against, and it embarrassed him to notice that his body reacted in a most unwanted (though not entirely unpleasant) manner. Sasuke let out an involuntarily soft groan at the sensation and cursed Naruto. If Naruto were to wake up now, not only would he accuse Sasuke of trying to molest him, but it might seem more plausible if Naruto realized Sasuke was hard.

Sasuke found himself frozen as Naruto began moving his hips against Sasuke's, and Sasuke found himself even more horrified as he realized he was bucking back against him. He didn't know why he didn't stop the situation. He didn't know what he would do if Kakashi, Sakura, or especially Naruto woke up. All Sasuke thought about was how good this new sensation of grinding against another body felt. He moved his body closer to Naruto's, supporting his weight with his arms.

The look on Naruto's face was completely different from the goofy grins that he was so used to. His face was more serene, and he looked both older and younger at the same time. It was though a mask had been lifted from Naruto. Sasuke had always thought of Naruto as being someone who looked – not ugly – but not good looking either. Yet with his face in this peacefully blissful state, Sasuke found himself shocked at how – he couldn't think of a more manly word for it – beautiful Naruto looked.

Being so close to someone was something that Sasuke had missed. He didn't realize how much he had missed human contact with others – and this pleasure that he felt was amazing. Sasuke had never been one to masturbate. He knew what it was, but had found his time too precious to waste it on something so frivolous. Yet now, this feeling – Sasuke never wanted it to end.

It was a slight shock, but not altogether, when Sasuke felt something burst pleasantly from his erect member, and barely had enough time to muffle his moan into his shoulder. He idly realized he had just had an orgasm, something that he'd heard some of the other boys his age enjoyed bringing upon themselves through self pleasure. This only half registered in his brain as Naruto's mouth opened ever so slightly, as Sasuke presumed Naruto was preparing for his own climax. Sasuke's eyes widened. Naruto's loud mouth self would probably wake the rest of the people in the tent - and how awkward would that be with what Sasuke just allowed to happen?

"Sasu-!" Naruto began to moan.

Sasuke's lips crushed Naruto's with his own as he felt Naruto moan into his mouth and felt Naruto's body buck against his own limp member. Naruto's body stopped moving, and he seemed to go lifeless as soon as he stopped moving. Sasuke idly realized that his legs were untangled from Naruto, but found himself captivated by Naruto's face. His hands seemed to move of their own accord as he gently traced three of his fingers across Naruto's cheek. Naruto made a strange noise, as though he were going to wake up. Sasuke quickly scrambled back to his own mat. How could Naruto not wake up through their entire grinding, yet almost wake up at such a gentle touch?

Naruto suddenly muttered something unintelligible. He sort of half sat up, seemed to look around as though reaching out for something, and then fell back onto his sleeping mat, quite clearly still asleep.

Sasuke breathed hard from the pleasure he still felt from his climax, as well as from fear. He lay still on his mat, the stickiness in his clothes from the unfamiliar sensation of having an orgasm made him feel as though he were glued to his boxers. He kept giving sideways glances to Naruto, still wondering how on earth Naruto had slept through that, wondering if he was indeed asleep at all. Naruto had clearly begun to say Sasuke's name as he had bucked under him. Sasuke felt embarrassed at his own actions and anger at Naruto for instigating it and then not even seeming to realize what he had done. After staring at the inside top of the tent for a full ten minutes, Sasuke cursed slightly, got up, and went outside to clean himself and his clothes.

Within the tent, Kakashi turned an eye to the empty sleeping mat next to the now quieted form of Naruto, wondering how things would be in the morning.

------------

The next morning Naruto woke up to find a very embarrassing situation in the inside of his boxers. He remembered having - even more embarrassingly - a very heated dream about Sasuke. Naruto felt himself blushing as he noted that everyone else was already up. He quickly exited the tent and found himself scampering down to the nearby river to bathe and to wash his clothes.

Sasuke silently followed Naruto, watching him, to see what he made of what had gone on between the two of them last night. This was, of course, assuming Naruto remembered anything.

"Oi, Naruto," Sasuke greeted after a few minutes had past as he watched Naruto clean his pants. "I'm surprised you ran down here before breakfast," Sasuke said off-handedly.

"Oh, hahahha!" Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Just wanted to freshen up a bit before that," Naruto half-lied. He was grateful that he had managed to wash himself and his pants after waking up from what he had believed to have been a mere wet dream about the person he considered his best friend. Though it was awkward that Sasuke happened to be standing there watching as he was wringing out his wet clothes before he put them back on.

"Will you give a guy some privacy?" Naruto hollered, holding his clothes in front of him in the water. Sasuke merely gave a "hmpf" before turning and sauntering back up the hill. Naruto cursed as he threw his wet clothes around himself, realizing he had forgotten a change of dry clothes back at the tent. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw his extra jumpsuit near the area that Sasuke had been. The fact that Sasuke had done something nice for him puzzled Naruto more than the fact that Sasuke had known that Naruto would need an extra set of clothes. If Naruto had been Shikamaru, he might have realized that something wasn't right with the current situation. But, seeing as how he wasn't Shikamaru, and just Naruto, he counted it as a blessing and got changed.

Breakfast was extremely strange for Team 7. Sasuke was talkative while Naruto was very quiet. Sakura frowned at Naruto. She had come a long way from being annoyed at the blond haired shinobi during their first few weeks together; after all, they had been a team for going on four months. So now, as he was staring at his food, Sakura was worried. Normally when Naruto was quiet, it meant that something was wrong. Sasuke was also acting strangely. He was talking about mundane things. She glanced at Naruto, and then back at Sasuke, wondering what was going on. She looked over at Kakashi who seemed unperturbed by the way they were acting. If Kakashi was okay with it, then Sakura figured she would be too. After all, it wasn't that often that Sasuke was talking, and about - of all things - dreams. Sakura decided just to enjoy listening to Sasuke's voice.

For his part, Naruto was completely oblivious to everybody else.

"What do you think Naruto?" Sasuke asked. Naruto jumped, startled at being addressed by Sasuke.

"Huh?" Naruto asked. Sasuke glared.

"You should listen when someone is speaking to you, dobe." Naruto glared back.

"Well if your voice weren't so annoying I would, teme!" Sasuke and Naruto began to throw insults back and forth at each other. Sakura felt somewhat relieved to see her teammates acting normal again - though it was getting irritating.

"Naruto!" She knocked him on the side of the head.

"Itai!" Naruto exclaimed in pain, holding the offended area. "What was that for?"

"You should answer Sasuke-kun's question."

"What was it again?" Naruto asked, completely forgetting that not listening in the first place was what had gotten him into the insult battle.

"I said there has been a great deal of research about dreams. They say that dreams are the mind's way of playing out scenarios that you yourself desire, but may seem unattainable in real life. Dreams are our utmost desire. What do you think Naruto? You always go on and on about your dream of one day being Hokage. Ever actually have any dreams about it? Or anything else you secretly wish for?" Sasuke asked. His voice was neutral, and his outward appearance was calm, but inside his heart was beating fast inside his chest.

Naruto paused for a minute and then burst out laughing. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard! Why on earth would I ever have a secret desire for my nightmares to come true? Dreams being our outmost desire! That's stupid," Naruto began laughing. Sasuke's face stayed impassive the entire time as he got up and walked away. Only Kakashi saw how Sasuke's fist had clenched so hard that he had drawn blood with his nails. Sakura noted that Sasuke had left but that wasn't unusual. He often went into strange brooding moods and needed time to be by himself. She thought about following him to where ever he was going, but she hadn't finished her breakfast, and therefore had no excuse to do so.

Although Naruto may not have been one to pick up on a lot of things, he was usually the first to pick up on someone's emotions of pain. Naruto stopped laughing, and looked at Sasuke's retreating back. Something he had said had managed to actually upset Sasuke. Not many things did that, and Naruto felt extremely uncomfortable. Naruto had had that dream about Sasuke last night, and a blush rose to his face as he wondered if he had said something in his sleep. He didn't think a mere disagreement about dreams was the only thing bothering Sasuke.

Naruto quickly scarfed down his breakfast and followed after Sasuke. Kakashi peered up from over the top of his favorite Icha-Icha Paradise book, watching as the strange series of events unfolded.

Sasuke stood looking over the river that he had gone to last night to clean up after his, er, experience. He didn't know what to think about anything. It was such a stupid and trivial thing, yet extremely mind-boggling at the same time. Sasuke had never questioned anything to do with his sexuality, and he wondered what on earth this meant. Also, why had he let Naruto - why had he let _himself_ - do something so foolish? Part of him told him because it had felt good. Another part of him because of the strange connection he felt with Naruto. There had been a strange sense of superiority in being on top and making someone else, especially his rival, do something so – so – so – ugh! He couldn't even find the right words for what had happened. He slammed his right fist into a tree, and then his left fist, and then again, and again, getting his frustrations out through physical exertion.

When Naruto finally caught up with Sasuke, Sasuke was punching the trunk of a tree back and forth, something that Naruto had only seen Sasuke do once. The only time Naruto could recall Sasuke ever making a mistake on a mission, and Kakashi reprimanding him – only slightly of course - Sasuke's face had been impassive, but he had left the camp and worked his anger out on the trunk of a tree. Naruto clearly remembered the strange set of self-directed anger in his actions – the same vibe that Sasuke was currently giving off now.

"What's your problem?" Naruto asked oh-too-bluntly. Sasuke ignored Naruto and kept punching the tree. Naruto didn't take the hint.

"Oi. Want to spar? I bet I could beat you with a hand tied behind my back." This time Sasuke paused to glare at Naruto, but kept punching the tree. Naruto knew something was terribly wrong when Sasuke didn't bother to correct him about who would win in a spar.

"Sexually frustrated or something?" Naruto had honestly meant it as a joke, but he should have realized it was a bad time to joke around with Uchiha Sasuke. Therefore, it came as a big shock to find that Sasuke had redirected his punch for the tree right into Naruto's face, slamming him backwards into a bush.

"Teme!" Naruto hollered as he quickly rebounded and flew a punch at Sasuke that Sasuke easily dodged. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist in mid-punch and twisted it around, flipping Naruto to the ground. Meanwhile, Naruto's feet found leverage in Sasuke's stomach, launching him into the air. He landed on his feet and had just enough time to sidestep Naruto's next punch but found a foot kicking his ankle from behind him. He ungracefully caught himself with his left hand, managing to twist his leg to clip the side of Naruto's head.

"Stop!" Kakashi hollered as the two boys disregarded their sensei and continued to pound the crap out of each other. Kakashi had to physically separate the two.

"Kakashi-sensei, he-" Naruto began.

"I don't want to hear it Naruto," Kakashi yelled angrily. Naruto stepped back as though he'd been slapped. Usually Kakashi-sensei always listened to what he had to say, and the fact that Sasuke had just punched him without cause - after he had clearly declined his offer to spar - and he couldn't even defend himself? Naruto looked between Kakashi and Sasuke as though this were some conspiracy against him and stormed off. Kakashi sighed, knowing he would have to explain his abrupt and angry tone of voice later. Kakashi wasn't mad at Naruto. He was livid with Sasuke. Kakashi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

Sasuke made as if to follow but Kakashi held out a hand, grapping Sasuke's wrist to halt him.

"Taking your frustration out on him won't work when he clearly doesn't realize what happened last night," Kakashi reprimanded Sasuke. Sasuke froze, startled, and looked at his sensei. A slight blush rose to his face.

"How much were you awake for?" Sasuke asked, his voice cracking ever so slightly.

"I thought I heard something like a muffled punch, and I woke, fully alert. I realized a few moments later that Naruto must have rolled onto you, and the noise had been him knocking the air out of your lungs. So, in other words, the whole bit."

"Oh." Sasuke couldn't think of what to say. An awkward silence fell between teacher and pupil. "What, uh, do I do?" Sasuke mumbled out, not liking to ask for help, but feeling at a serious loss at the situation.

"Apologize for punching him for the sexually frustrated comment." Sasuke nearly growled.

"Heard that too huh?" Sasuke said, almost accusatorily.

"You're just lucky that I sent Sakura to scout in the other direction. She was actually worried about you and Naruto. You're both acting abnormal, and it really needs to stop. We are not in 100 percent friendly territory, and you need to be more alert. Whatever is going on between the two of you, you should put it aside until we get back to Konoha tonight."

"Tonight? I thought we wouldn't be getting back until tomorrow," Sasuke said puzzled.

"With what happened last night, I'm going to push to get back as soon as possible so nothing else like that will happen - at least not before you two get a chance to talk before you tear each other limb from limb." Sasuke was quiet a moment, and then spoke.

"What am I supposed to do if he doesn't realize what happened?" Sasuke asked.

"Let it go," Kakashi said. Sasuke merely nodded and walked back to camp. Kakashi watched as he left and wondered what to do. He knew that both of his charges were rather sensitive when it came to issues of friendship, let alone anything more. They were both young men experiencing an awkward time in their life, and he knew that these kinds of events could make or break what happened to them later as a team. He decided to go find Naruto, and try and talk to him.

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After Kakashi found Naruto grumbling about stupid Sharingan users, and explaining that he hadn't wanted to hear what Naruto was going to say because _of course_ Sasuke had clearly started it - a fact that made not only Naruto forgive Kakashi, but Sasuke as well, Naruto was appeased. Naruto seemed to associate Sasuke getting in trouble as a sort of default apology from Sasuke. Kakashi never liked how Naruto seemed excited when Sasuke got in trouble, but was grateful for it now since Naruto switched back to his happy and bubbly self almost immediately, and became excited that they would head home sooner than expected. With his mind off of Sasuke, things were not as awkward, at least not for Naruto. Sasuke's brooding on the other hand was clear to Kakashi. Kakashi watched as Sasuke watched Naruto.

"Ah! We've been out scouting for six days! I haven't had ramen in forever. I wasn't expecting to be home a day earlier, and I thought for sure I would want miso ramen when we got back, but I think I'm really in the mood for pork ramen," Naruto rambled on excitedly.

Sasuke watched Naruto in bemusement. The blond had completely forgotten any sort of fight the two had been having, and he was tempted not to bring it up again. Yet he knew that he should talk to Naruto when they got back to Konoha. He realized that things would only become more awkward if he didn't, but he couldn't figure out exactly what to say to Naruto. "Do you remembering humping me last night?" sounded like something that Naruto would say, not Sasuke, but for some reason, that was the only thing that Sasuke could think of. He was frustrated. He was VERY frustrated. And part of his frustration was that in the back of his mind, he wanted to experience what had happened last night again.

When they finally reached the gates of Konoha well beyond dark, Naruto was still happily talking about the pork ramen he wanted to buy as soon as he got to the Ichiraku Ramen stand.

"Bye minna-san!" Naruto said his good-bye to everyone, clearly bouncing over to the ramen stand. Sakura yawned, and waved good-bye to Naruto's retreating back. She then turned to Kakashi and said good-bye, finally turning to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, I wondered if maybe you wouldn't mind walking me home?" Sakura asked politely.

"No," Sasuke replied coldly. Sakura laughed a little, partially expecting the refusal, but hopeful otherwise.

"Well, goodnight then!" Sakura said, waving goodbye. Sasuke watched from inside the gates as Sakura walked down the familiar streets and disappear as she turned a corner. Kakashi and Sasuke stood silently by the large entranceway. Kakashi cleared his throat loudly. Sasuke just ignored him. Kakashi cleared his throat again. This time Sasuke grunted and turned in the direction of Ichiraku ramen, the obvious destination of one Uzumaki Naruto.

**Next chapter: Restless Conscious**

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! (Just on a side note, someone told me that if guys have a wet dream they always wake up due to the emotional feelings, but I've talked to several guys that said that wasn't necessarily the case. Either way, Naruto was _semi_ awake, but not fully coherent. Hey, if he can use chakra, survive a death god's seal, and walk on water then it's possible that he can't wake up for a wet dream.) Jelp


	2. Chapter 2: Restless Conscious

**Important time frame AN:** Please note I will be recapping events from right before the Chuunin events until the current manga chapters (and projection of what will happen beyond current manga chapters). This story is supposed to be fairly close to what has actually happened in the manga and anime. It's kind of like the cut scenes or thoughts you didn't see the characters having during the time. Also, I will not be recapping all the events that took place because that would take _forever_.

This chapter has been edited. That being said, it may still need editing done to it. If you see any mistakes e-mail, leave a review, or personal message me about it. :-)

Restless Chapter 2: Restless Conscious 

Sasuke stood hidden in a small ally, watching as Naruto sat down at Ichiraku ramen.

"I was just about to close up," Sasuke could hear Teuchi, the ramen storeowner, say brightly to Naruto.

"I figured as much! We got back just in time. The mission was sooo boring. Nothing happened at all," Naruto whined as he waved his arms for dramatic emphasis. Teuchi laughed, obviously used to Naruto's antics, and amused by them, rather than exasperated.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was furious at the remark. Nothing happened? What did Naruto mean, _nothing happened?_ Something had happened between him and Naruto, and he was brushing it off? Even if he hadn't remembered what had happened the previous night, he didn't even mention the fight that the two of them had had that morning. Sasuke shook his head, and breathed deeply. He was over reacting. Why on earth would Naruto mention something like that to Teuchi even if he did remember it? 'Calm down, Uchiha,' Sasuke thought to himself.

"What did Sasuke and Sakura think of this mission?" Teuchi asked, as though he was relaying Sasuke's message for him - though Sasuke probably would have left out the part about Sakura.

"Sakura has started to warm up to me! I think she'd actually think about it before turning me down now," Naruto said happily, not even realizing that he had just insulted himself, nor how somewhat pathetic that sounded, "as for Sasuke-teme..." Naruto trailed off, his face becoming a mask over his emotions, something that only happened when he was truly serious. Sasuke's ears perked up, hoping to figure out what Naruto thought about him. "...something's wrong with him. But that's not unusual!" Naruto began to laugh at his own joke. Sasuke fumed.

"And what exactly is wrong with me?" Sasuke demanded, as he walked out from his hiding spot, and coolly sat down in the stool next to Naruto. Naruto jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"What's wrong with you is that you show up when I insult you, bastard!" Naruto hollered.

"Hmpf." Sasuke didn't look at Naruto, but rather occupied himself with the menu a bemused Teuchi had just handed him. Sasuke knew that his cold mask was flawless, but inside he was raging. He wanted to deck Naruto across the side of the head - wanted to do anything to make the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach go away. "I'll have this," Sasuke had randomly pointed to the most expensive item on the menu in his anger, and noted with a slight frown that it really was more expensive that he had expected from Ichiraku. He idly noted, as he looked down at the menu, that the prices at this shop weren't really cheaper than other ramen stores. He had assumed that Naruto only came here because it was cheap, but now that he thought about it, Naruto did tend to spend a lot of his precious money at the stand.

Sasuke had never really stopped to wonder about how Naruto got his funding, or why he lived where he did. Naruto lived in his own apartment. It was not a nice place by Sasuke's standards, but at the same time, it was bigger than he would have expected. He'd never really thought about how Naruto managed to get by, and he wondered if Konoha's government helped him with any of his expenses. 'Great,' Sasuke thought to himself 'more things I need to talk to the dobe about.'

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto exclaimed happily, purposefully ignoring Sasuke as he began to happily slurp up his ramen. Sasuke received his order, and began to eat his own meal - and with much more dignity. Sasuke smirked to himself when he remembered being in the Country of Wave, and the two of them trying to scarf down as much as they could in order to out do the other. Sasuke was half tempted to instigate a match again, but then an image popped into his mind, one that he didn't want to remember.

_FLASHBACK_

_"Ni-chan!" Sasuke greeted happily to his older brother, Uchiha Itachi. "I bet I can eat more bowls of udon than you!" Sasuke taunted giddily. His eleven-year-old brother, who had always managed to look and act much older than all the other eleven-year-olds that Sasuke knew, gave him a searching look._

_"I'm sure you can since you seem to waste your time doing such foolish things instead of training," Itachi had chided harshly. Sasuke stepped back as though he had been slapped._

_END FLASHBACK_

That had been the first time that Sasuke noticed the changes in Itachi from the older brother he had admired to the older brother that would eventually murder his entire clan. Sasuke slammed his fist against the counter.

"Sorry," Sasuke apologized to the slightly startled Teuchi. Sasuke cursed inwardly. Every now and then he let flashbacks of Itachi get the better of him.

"No need to slam the counter for more service," Teuchi said, sounding quite unabashed, misinterpreting Sasuke's fist slamming as he smiled at Sasuke kindly. Teuchi was used to having some of his regulars bang on his counter for attention - Naruto being one of them - so didn't think anything of it. Naruto, on the other hand, had seen that look before. Sasuke only looked the way he did when Sasuke was talking about or thinking about his brother.

Naruto looked at Sasuke as Sasuke reluctantly ordered another bowl of ramen. Naruto looked down at his hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world, before he looked sideways at Sasuke again.

"Oi, teme. What's going on? You've been acting even more un-normal than you usually do," Naruto observed.

"Un-normal? You mean unusual?" Sasuke corrected Naruto's grammar.

"Che. Whatever. What's going on? It's really starting to become bothersome." Sasuke paused before answering.

"Can we go somewhere else and talk?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shrugged. They finished eating in silence. It was awkward for both boys as they left Ichiraku walking aimlessly away from the stand as many of the lights of Konoha began to flicker out as more and more people went to bed for the night. Naruto was awkward because he didn't know what to make of Sasuke's attitude, and he almost felt as though Sasuke were going to trick him. Sasuke was awkward because he didn't know how to begin the subject of the "incident" as Sasuke was coming to think of it, aka, their physical grinding the previous night.

"Last night, do you remember what you were dreaming about?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's face turned bright red because he did indeed remember what he had dreamt about. Naruto had wondered earlier in the day if he had said something in his sleep, and now he was positive that he had.

"Heheheheh…About that. Don't worry about it. It's nothing at all to think about. Just ignore whatever I may or may not have said. Nothing special, you know? Just happens sometimes. Hahahahaha!" Naruto laughed off nervously. He wondered what he had said in order to make Sasuke seem so off kilter.

Sasuke, for his part, still didn't think Naruto realized what happened last night, but considering how nervous he felt, he decided not to press the issue.

"Hn," Sasuke said, before abruptly turning about, and walking away. Naruto could do nothing but watch as Sasuke left, his face a bright red.

'What do I do if he thinks I'm hitting on him? What will he do if I dream about it again?' Naruto said. He bit the inside of his cheek. Naruto didn't know what to think. What if he had said something that had really been inappropriate to make Sasuke so angry with him? He felt like he and Sasuke had just started to sort of act friendlier towards each other. Naruto walked home, dejected, feeling guilty at unintentionally offending him. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to be dreaming about Sasuke, right?

"I shouldn't feel guilty! I can't help what I dream about!" Naruto yelled out angrily.

"That's a good attitude Naruto," a voice from behind him said cheerfully. Naruto may have been dense, but he was still a shinobi. Instincts kicking in, he grabbed a kunai from his belt and swung it towards the general direction of where the voice was coming from. His attack was blocked easily.

"Now, now Naruto. You need to be more aware of your surroundings and less willing to barrel down a familiar voice," Kakashi said, the obvious owner of the voice.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei. Sorry. I'm just annoyed at Sasuke-teme. He's acting weird, and I think I did something to upset him, but I don't know what, and Sasuke, being the bastard that he is, won't just tell me."

"I had a feeling he wouldn't tell you," Kakashi sighed. Naruto looked at him funny.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's something you need to figure out on your own. Just don't let it interfere with your duties as a ninja," Kakashi said, before waving a hand and vanishing with a poof.

"Is it so hard to just tell me what I said?" Naruto grumbled angrily.

------------

Uchiha Sasuke prided himself on, well, his pride. He was not one to normally put himself in awkward situations, but he happened to have found himself in the most compromising position when his teacher had happened to show up at his house early the next morning. For one who was normally late, he had to show up at 5:37am without even bothering to knock?

"I see you're trying to relieve a little tension, ne Sasuke?" Kakashi grinned evilly (or at least, that's what Sasuke assumed considering he couldn't see his sensei's face due to the mask that he wore.) Sasuke swore as he quickly covered himself up from his experimentation with masturbation.

"You don't just come barging in a person's house!" Sasuke yelled, completely flustered and embarrassed.

"It's perfectly normal for boys your age to begin experimenting with such things. I have a feeling from what you did, or rather, didn't say to Naruto last night that you have no intention of telling him what happened, do you?" Kakashi accused. Sasuke glared darkly at his teacher.

"Listening in on all our conversations now?" Sasuke growled.

"I need to keep up my practice!" Kakashi brushed off merrily, but his tone became more serious. "You really don't plan on filling Naruto in, do you?" Sasuke merely shrugged.

"If he ever asks 'Did you and I ever have any sexual experiences together?' then I'll answer truthfully. Otherwise, no," Sasuke grunted. Kakashi rolled his eyes and sighed.

"You do have a sense of humor. A morbid one," Kakashi muttered to himself. Sasuke looked at him.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Kakashi waved his hand in dismissal.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke started, not sure how to ask the question, because he knew it was none of his business, but still wanting to know anyway, "what happened to Naruto's parents? Did they leave him money to help him with his finances? Or does Konoha help him out?" Kakashi scratched the back of his head.

"If you want to know about Naruto, ask Naruto," Kakashi said firmly. Sasuke nodded. "I'm torn at the new attitude you seem to have taken towards him. I'm glad you seem to want to get to know him, yet there's something a little unsettling in how you're going about this. If it weren't for the fact that I don't think Naruto would like me telling you what to do, and that I believe Naruto can take care of himself, I would probably stop you from whatever it is you are thinking about doing or not doing. If you plan to continue this, fine. If not, fine. Just don't let it affect you on your next group assignment. Both of you will need to be alert if you want to survive," Kakashi warned. With that morbid message he left with a poof. Sasuke growled.

"Be more cryptic, why don't you?"

------------

That afternoon Sasuke figured out just what Kakashi had meant about being more alert. Kakashi had nominated Team 7 to enter the Chuunin exams. If they wanted to pass, both of them needed to be alert and ready for anything.

The entire process the following day was quite annoying, yet strangely exciting to Sasuke. He had met many new possible rivals, yet had been beaten by that green-spandex wearing Lee. That had been quite degrading.

Naruto had been having a rough time himself. First that fuzzy-eyebrows kid had thrown him against a wall, and then he had to take a written exam, and then that crazy Psycho examiner had licked him, and now they were heading into the Forest of Death. Yippee.

The first two of the five days in the Forest of Death did not go well by any means for Team 7. It started with the incident with Orochimaru and then the Sound ninjas. Having to be semi-rescued by other teams was also rather humiliating.

Whatever poisonous seal Orochimaru had placed on Sasuke had done a number on his body and his mind. There was a slight fog looming in his thoughts as though the poison had penetrated his psyche rather than his neck. He was grateful for Sakura's annoying voice that had brought him back to reality. She was his teammate, and as much as she did get on his nerves, he was beginning to respect her more and more. Idly he realized he was beginning to feel like an older brother to her. Sasuke wanted to have a younger sister because his Mom had once expressed her desire to have a little girl in the house. Sasuke remembered scrunching up his nose at the prospect of a baby sister, but since that had been the second to last conversation he had had with his mother, he felt as though it was his mother's dying wish.

Sasuke decided when he saw how the Sound ninjas had treated Sakura, saw how she had fought to protect him – and Naruto – that Sakura was like that younger sister: which was both comforting and disturbing at the same time. He would protect her, but he realized he couldn't come to love her. That was the moment that Uchiha Sasuke realized he didn't find any interest in girls.

As team 7 went about searching for food on the morning of day three, Sasuke looked over at Sakura, whom he had finally been able to categorize officially as his adopted, albeit, annoying, younger sister.

Naruto, on the other hand, was a different enigma to Sasuke all together. He still didn't know where he classified the loud mouth ninja, but he had a feeling it didn't fall into the sibling category.

Sasuke watched Naruto all day, noting the problems that he had as a shinobi, and recalling how he had acted when his fellow teammates had been in danger. A side of Naruto that Sasuke never knew existed had emerged. Sasuke both loathed and loved it.

He loathed it because he knew that Naruto had come off better in the fight than he himself had. Naruto had managed to keep his head, whereas Sasuke had felt as though he had completely fallen apart. Sasuke vowed never to let that happen again. On the flip side of it, if Naruto got stronger, it meant that there would be more competition for Sasuke to fight. The stronger the people he fought against – and won against – Sasuke would become stronger and closer to defeating _him_. Uchiha Itachi.

Night fell with an eerie hiss of nocturnal life in the Forest of Death. Team 7 decided to do shifts of who was to keep watch. Sasuke would take the first watch, Sakura the second, and Naruto the third.

Sasuke decided to take a post in the tree above where their hideout was. They had managed to find a dugout in the earth, probably from some large animal that had resided there, and sleep in that. It was well covered and hidden, but it held the problem that if an enemy were to attack, they would not be able to get out unless there was ample warning. So Sasuke made sure to sit high enough in a tree as a lookout in order to warn his teammates.

Nothing happened during Sasuke's allotted time as look out. After his time, he entered the makeshift sleeping camp and woke Sakura. She woke up groggily, and only managed a mumbled okay when Sasuke told her about the good lookout spot he had found. Sakura climbed out of the dugout, and re-covered the entrance with makeshift leaves.

Sasuke fell down beside Naruto, exhausted, ready to sleep, until Naruto's hand accidentally brushed against Sasuke's arm. Sasuke's body felt like it had been put on fire with that simple touch, and he lay staring at the ceiling of the dugout trying to will his body to behave and his mind to stop thinking about what had happened less than a week before.

Even though his body already felt like it was on fire with desire, Sasuke felt anger well within him. Anger at Naruto because Sasuke felt that it was somehow Naruto's fault that Sasuke felt like this; anger at Naruto for coming off better in the fight against that snake man than himself; anger at Naruto for being so completely unaware of what he was doing to Sasuke. So, Sasuke decided to take out his anger on Naruto.

------------

Naruto found himself having another dream with Sasuke in it. This time, it felt more realistic than the last time. He, Sakura, and Sasuke were in the middle of the Chuunin exams, and Sakura was out on watch. In his dream, Sasuke had reached over and slipped his hand down his pants, and began to massage his member until he became erect. Naruto moaned slightly, and foggily wondered why, since this was a dream, he could feel Sasuke's hand so clearly. Naruto knew this had to be a dream because why in the world would Uchiha Sasuke be reaching down into his pants and jerking him off?

Naruto began to feel more and more awake in this dream, and he half stopped his moans because he wasn't sure anymore that this _was_ a dream. Naruto could swear his eyes were open, and that Sasuke really was pressed close against him. He could smell the Forest of Death around him, and he could smell another scent that he couldn't quite name, but oddly realized was something he associated with Sasuke.

Sasuke's hand moved faster and Naruto found himself clutching at Sasuke's shirt, willing dream Sasuke to both continue yet stop. Naruto let out a groan of pleasure as he came, feeling pleasured, bewildered, and slightly scared as Sasuke moved his hand away from his manhood, wiping the cum that had spilled onto his hand onto the inside of Naruto's pants, and then removing it. Sasuke rolled over as though nothing had happened.

"Go back to sleep dobe," Sasuke's quiet voice came from the body next to Naruto. Naruto stared at the ceiling, knowing he hadn't been dreaming, knowing what Sasuke had just done, but not knowing what the hell to do about it.

"Was the other night not a dream?" Naruto whispered. His question went unanswered as he heard Sasuke's breathing become slower. Sasuke had fallen asleep. Naruto wasn't sure if he fell back asleep, though he hoped that he hadn't been awake at all, in between the time that Sasuke had woken him and when Sakura came into the dugout to fetch him for his watch.

**Next chapter: Restless Dreams**


	3. Chapter 3: Restless Dreams

Hello all! Just as an fyi, I'm only going to be skimming what happens during the Chuunin exams because I'm guessing that probably all of you have seen it before. But, if you're like me, you may not remember what exactly happens, so I will be giving a small re-cap, but only a small one that is pertinent to the story. After all, I'm writing this as though these are just scenes that actually happened, but the anime and manga do not show these scenes (and/or thoughts). Enjoy!

This chapter has been edited. That being said, it may still need editing done to it. If you see any mistakes e-mail, leave a review, or personal message me about it. :-)

Restless Chapter 3: Restless Dreams 

After his shift was done, Naruto, despite having had less sleep than normal, and despite heartily complaining about how tired he was to Sakura, nonetheless bounced about the next morning as though nothing had happened the previous night. Or at least, that's what Sakura noticed. Sasuke, on the other hand, could tell that Naruto was more on edge than usual.

Sasuke and Naruto had decided to go fishing, and Sasuke had told Naruto he should be the one to get into the water and chase out the fish for Sasuke to catch. Naruto had a strange kind of expression on his face when Sasuke suggested that, but Sasuke followed it up with:

"Unless you don't think you're capable of doing something so simplistic," Sasuke taunted.

"Is that what this is all about? A challenge at who can best who?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke realized Naruto wasn't talking about his taunt about fishing. Sasuke thought for a moment. He had not been able to put a finger on what the two of them, or more realistically, what he, Sasuke had planned when he decided to continue whatever sexual activities that may or may not have been forgotten the first time, and instead molest Naruto as he slept. But yes, what Naruto said made sense. Sasuke felt Naruto was like a challenge. Sasuke was dominant, and Naruto wasn't. It was a way to keep the dobe in his place. Sasuke smirked in order to hide the fact that he felt irked that Naruto had come up with what his own mind could not.

"Yes. A challenge. Obviously I will win because I am the best at everything,"

Sasuke added haughtily. Naruto's face turned red. Sasuke couldn't tell if it was because of a blush or because of anger. Naruto muttered something about "we'll see about that," and proceeded to strip to his boxers and begin to try and catch fish, as though to say "Okay.

I'll play along."

Sasuke would never admit to how much fun he had while watching Naruto make a complete fool out of himself by jumping around in the water in order to catch their lunch, but Sasuke felt a lot more at ease. There was now an unspoken understanding (or at least, he thought there was considering that this WAS Naruto and he wasn't the smartest guy around) about what was going on between the two of them. It was a challenge. Nothing more.

Although there was much that happened between the time that they were out catching fish, and when team 7 finally managed to get to the tower with help from Kabuto ((AN: as you probably all know from reading the manga/watching the anime)), nothing more was exchanged between Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto had completely forgotten anything having to do with Sasuke as the three of them waited anxiously in line, all feeling extremely tired, and wanting an actual meal. Those fish had been barely enough to keep them going, and they were now being asked to fight again right away?

Sasuke felt the most miserable of all, standing there with the others who had managed to make it to the tower. Fighting the Mist-nin had had a poor reaction with his body, newly affected by the poisonous cursed seal. Naruto had seemed oblivious, much to Sasuke's relief. He didn't want to be seen weak in front of anyone, especially not Naruto. However, Sakura seemed to notice since she had been with him when he had been infected with the seal. Despite her whispered mutterings about the fact that he should not participate, Sasuke vehemently disagreed with her. He knew he could do this. He had to do this.

After slapping down Sakura's hand when she attempted to bring attention to the cursed seal and the problems it could cause, Naruto finally noticed the argument between his other two teammates. Sasuke felt somewhat annoyed as Naruto sided with Sakura, and then Naruto proceeded to even yell at him because she was just concerned for him after all. Sasuke felt annoyed, but he explained that he wanted to be able to fight those who were strong in order to become stronger.

"I want to fight you too, Naruto," Sasuke felt himself saying. The look on Naruto's face was one that Sasuke was not used to seeing directed at him. Naruto's face went from one of surprise to one of excitement. Naruto merely nodded and then proceeded to stick up for him, changing sides quickly. Sasuke smirked to himself. Naruto's weakest point when it came to Sasuke was a good challenge.

The preliminary rounds of the Chuunin exams were a seemingly long process for those involved, but in reality, it did not last more than a few hours. Sasuke had to leave after his curse seal acted up, and, after being knocked unconscious from the other seal that Kakashi put on him in order to prevent the first from activating, he was taken to the hospital under a guard of ANBU. Of course, Naruto and Sakura did not know this. And if Sasuke could help it – they never would.

After the end of the Chuunin exams, having heard that Sasuke had had to leave, Naruto went to visit Sasuke in the hospital in order to kill two birds with one stone by checking up on Sasuke, and while he was there, ask Kakashi to train him. However, the stupid medics hadn't let him in to see Sasuke.

Naruto's loudness traveled down the hallway before Kakashi got there. He sighed; he knew what Naruto would want to ask him. After all, Naruto would not want Kakashi to train Sasuke over him. So when Naruto came bounding up to him, wanting to know about training, Kakashi told Naruto that there were other things that he needed to do, and the accusatory look as Naruto blank point figured out that Kakashi was going to train Sasuke instead, hurt the silver-haired jounin at the look of anger and disappointment directed at him. That was not to say that he had not been prepared. He had figured that Naruto would not be pleased with his choice of training Sasuke instead of Naruto, so he had called Ebisu to help the number one unpredictable ninja. As much as he hated to admit it, there were things that Kakashi just felt that he could not teach Naruto. The basics of how to be a shinobi being one of them.

He was a bit miffed at the strange greeting that Naruto gave Ebisu, especially the underlying sense of hostility between the two. Kakashi also noted the words "Harem no jutsu" and stored them in the back of his mind as he wondered what other techniques of Naruto's he had yet to see.

Kakashi watched in bemusement as Naruto left fuming about Ebisu, wondering what exactly he had missed between the two, and chuckling to himself. Ebisu did seem to have a stick shoved up his anal cavity, but he would be a good teacher for Naruto. And it was a good way for him to separate Naruto and Sasuke. He had a feeling something more had happened between the two of them during the Chuunin exam, and he didn't want to have to train the two of them when they were both acting so stubborn.

Kakashi had decided to train Sasuke during the break period rather than Naruto for obvious reasons. First off, Sasuke had the sharingan, and since he happened to be the only other person that happened to have said item, he felt it only natural that he train Sasuke to use it effectively. Second off, Sasuke already knew that Kakashi was aware of what was going on between the boys, and he wanted a chance to talk to Sasuke about what had happened. Besides, he wasn't even sure yet if Naruto knew what was going on. He wouldn't put it past Sasuke to keep Naruto in the dark.

If Kakashi were lucky, Sasuke would wake up soon and they would be able to begin the training sooner rather than later. He knew that Sasuke would not want to stay cooped up for too much longer.

------------

Kakashi was rather surprised when Ebisu showed up on his doorstep the following morning, smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

"I thought Naruto would want to be training non-stop with the final Chuunin exam only a month away," Kakashi had said, trying to keep the accusatory tone out of his voice, but failing. He had honestly expected more of Ebisu than this.

"Oh, I'm sure he is. However, fortunately for Naruto, a better sensei has come along to teach him," Ebisu said smiling, drawing out his words as though trying to get Kakashi intrigued so that he would begin questioning him. After all, Ebisu himself had been slightly miffed with the situation. When Kakashi had asked him to train one of his students, he had done so only because he felt that perhaps if he had the opportunity to straighten Naruto out, Konohamaru would also straighten out once his so called "boss" did. However, he had gained a slightly higher opinion about Naruto due to Konohamaru's praise and by watching Naruto train during the short time that he had supervised him.

Watching as Ebisu smirked smugly, obviously pleased with himself, Kakashi sighed, and decided to humor Ebisu. He pretended to be really curious as to who this mysterious person was, rather than show how annoyed he truly felt.

"Who is this better teacher?" Kakashi asked in a bored tone. He was rather concerned about Naruto.

"Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi, much to Ebisu's pleasure, was startled.

"Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi asked in surprised. He knew that Sandaime had been looking for the man for sometime. For him to appear to teach Naruto helped further confirm something that Kakashi had always suspected but had never been sure of since the very first time he had actually came face to face with Naruto.

"Jiraiya-sama asked me not to tell Sandaime that he was here. However, since he did not give specifics, I figured I could at least tell you. You are the boy's sensei after all," Ebisu said. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. After seeing the strange interaction between Naruto and Ebisu, he had found Konohamaru and asked him what he knew about how the two of them met. He figured since Konohamaru was Naruto's shadow, it was only fitting that Naruto must have run into the elite teacher due to Konohamaru.

Kakashi had laughed himself to death when he found out that Ebisu was a closet pervert, according to Konohamaru, the discovery coming about when Naruto had effectively distracted the teacher into being beaten at the hands of his harem no jutsu. Konohamaru had also hinted at the fact that Ebisu quite often referred to Naruto as a monster, and a headache to Konoha, but added that Ebisu-san probably only thought that because Naruto had beaten him, and Ebisu-san was just a poor loser. Kakashi knew better of course. Ebisu was clearly one of the ones that still held biases against Naruto because of the Kyuubi. So when Ebisu called Naruto "the boy", but more specifically, the way that he said it respectfully and even affectionately, Kakashi knew that Naruto had managed to win another person over.

"Thank you for telling me. This helps me to further confirm something," Kakashi said. Ebisu pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, looking confused.

"What does it help confirm?"

"Trust me, when I find out, everyone will know," Kakashi said cryptically. Ebisu merely shrugged and vanished with a poof.

"Trust me, once I have proof that Naruto is my old sensei's son, I will make sure that everyone knows it. Especially Naruto – he will finally know about his family," Kakashi muttered to himself.

------------

Kakashi left Konoha. He knew that training Sasuke in or near the village would be too dangerous, especially considering that Orochimaru was clearly after the youngest Uchiha prodigy. He knew that if he left a few scattered clues that Sasuke would come to find him, which Sasuke did very quickly.

Sasuke's body still felt stiff from being in the hospital, but he managed to loosen some of his muscles on the way out to meet Kakashi past the Valley of the End, towards the Cliffs of Insight. The clues that Kakashi had left made it clear that Sasuke was not to tell anyone of his whereabouts. All the better for Sasuke. He disliked distractions when training.

Kakashi and Sasuke trained almost non-stop for an entire week before an opportunity came about for Kakashi to question Sasuke about Naruto.

The first three days of training had been the hardest on Sasuke. His body was sore from all the unusually rough physical activities that Kakashi had demanded of him. He didn't mind it though. At night, as soon as his head hit his pillow, he fell asleep. However, as his body slowly adjusted to the training, and after he had managed to duplicate his sensei's chidori, Sasuke's chakra had been drained, and Kakashi had finally lightened his workload. That night, Sasuke did not fall asleep right away, and his mind wandered to Naruto. He hadn't asked what Naruto was doing, but he was curious why his fellow teammate was not there training with them. In all honesty, he was too busy to miss him, but he _was_ worried about him. Once he did fall asleep, he began to dream about Naruto. It started off pleasant enough, (with Sasuke reliving the two sexual experiences they'd had) when his dream had turned into a terrible nightmare. Sasuke woke with a startled yell.

"Stop! Naruto!" He cried out. Kakashi was beside Sasuke in an instant. It only took a moment for him to realize that Sasuke had had a nightmare, but considering the trauma of Sasuke's childhood, he was far from brushing off a dream. Also, Sasuke did know how to use the Sharingan now. With all the rigorous training he had been going through, it was quite possible that Sasuke had finally reached "that" point in the stage of Sharingan use.

"It's alright," Kakashi soothed as best he could. "What happened?" Kakashi murmured. Sasuke blushed and looked away. Once he had awakened, and realized that he had been dreaming, he felt utterly embarrassed.

"Nothing," Sasuke muttered before turning away from Kakashi in his sleeping bag. Kakashi sighed. He debated with himself from divulging a sharingan secret without knowing the exact content of Sasuke's dream. However, with what had been going on between Sasuke and Naruto, he had honestly expected Sasuke to have "that" dream sometime soon anyway.

"Did you dream about Naruto obtaining that sharingan and then using it to kill you?" Kakashi whispered softly. The look on Sasuke's face as he turned around to look at Kakashi was more than enough of an affirmative response to know that that was indeed what Sasuke had dreamt.

"How did you know?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi sighed, wishing that his former teammate, Obito, was still around.

"After the sharingan has been awakened in the iris of your eye, it triggers a chain reaction to the vitreous cavity which is the inner part of your eye that lies between what one might call the front and the back of the eye. It is made up of a gel like substance. Now, the difference between someone who has a normal eye and someone who has the sharingan is very simple. The gel-like substance in your vitreous cavity is something that has been formed by a special, red chakra. This chakra is not naturally occurring in humans. However, one of your ancestors happened to develop the technique to alter his genetic code to allow this red chakra to form with the gel like substance. The reason that you are not born with the ability to activate the sharingan is because, like normal gel in the vitreous cavity, it is actually rather firm at birth and only softens as you age. As it begins to soften, the red chakra infiltrates into the gel, causing the user to have a greater perception. It is almost like an optical wave being transmitted by your eyes, using a sort of radar in order to predict your opponent's moves due to your heightened sensitivity to certain wavelengths that your opponent gives off," Kakashi took in a deep breath, wondering how much he should tell Sasuke - and honestly wondering how much he already knew. He continued.

"Certain events, and even people, trigger emotions. When these emotions are triggered inside the body, a chain of events occurs. Hormones are released within the body to help it cope with whatever the emotion the body must deal with. These hormones eventually get back to the eye. The strongest emotions: anger and fear, as well as affection and possession, trigger different hormones. These hormones are the strongest, and affect the sharingan. These hormones and red chakra mix until they form a hard substance. This hard substance is an image of the item that causes these emotions. In this case, for you, it seems to be Naruto. With the amount of training you have been doing with the sharingan, and the emotions that have obviously been trudging through your body since several weeks ago have finally gotten a chance to mesh that substance to burn the image of Naruto into your retina. His image has now become a catalyst linked to your sharingan,"

"Wait a second," Sasuke interjected, sounding panicked, "you mean I can't use my sharingan now without thinking about Naruto?" Kakashi shook his head.

"I wasn't finished yet. Naruto is the one that causes the strongest emotions to rise within you. Therefore his image is the strongest in your mind. It's only natural considering the first time that you used the sharingan was during the mission to Wave Country during a battle when you were protecting Naruto. He is forever linked with your sharingan. However," Kakashi said a bit harshly, stopping Sasuke from interrupting again, "it does not mean that he is the only thing that affects your sharingan. Other people, or even objects, will be burned into your retina, and they probably already have some sort of image floating around in the gel substance of your vitreous cavity."

"So basically Naruto is connected to my sharingan because he is the most important person to me?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow.

"You consider Naruto to be the most important person to you?" Kakashi asked, truly curious.

"I guess so," Sasuke shrugged. Kakashi had never hinted that Naruto was Sasuke's most important person, only that he brought about strong emotions within him. Though it did make sense, considering his dream.

"Your dream," Kakashi began, getting back to the original reason he had started the conversation in the first place, "is triggered once the image is burned into your mind. For whatever reason, quite possibly some sort of side effect of faulty genetic reconstruction on the part of the man who first obtained the sharingan, each person does eventually dream about the person they care about most, and that person gaining and then obtaining the sharingan to kill that person," Kakashi could see the question forming on Sasuke's lips, finding gaps within his explanation. However, Sasuke quickly closed his mouth before he said anything. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but Kakashi had a sneaking suspicion that Sasuke wanted to ask about the mangekyou sharingan. In reality, after having a dream that signified who one's most important person was, to gain even higher sharingan power, the sharingan user had to forcibly rip the image of their most important person from their retina. To do so, that person had to personally stop the heart of the one they cherished the most, and then touch the stilled heart with their bare hands.

Kakashi shook his head. He was being paranoid. Sasuke would not ask anything like that. The mangekyou was something terrible, and something he hoped he would never have to explain to Sasuke.

"You're not explaining everything," Sasuke finally accused. Kakashi nodded, and then shrugged.

"Not tonight. You need to sleep in order to be prepared for training tomorrow," Kakashi evaded. Sasuke merely nodded, not fully satisfied with the answer, but knowing it was useless to argue. He rolled over on his mat and went to sleep. Kakashi sighed. Things were really getting complicated. He almost wished that Sasuke were Naruto. Naruto would have been happy with "things are moving in your eye that make you dream about your most important person," and he wouldn't have had to explain anything else. Sasuke was different. He wanted to know everything. Not that Naruto didn't want to learn. He was just too bouncy and energetic to sit still for more than 13.46 seconds. Kakashi knew. He'd done several observations of Naruto and found 13.46 seconds to be the average time Naruto was able to sit still.

Thinking of Naruto made Kakashi wonder how Naruto's training was going. Kakashi sincerely hoped that Naruto and Jiraiya were getting along okay.

Next chapter: Restless Fighters 

**AN about the dreams/sharingan link:** First of all, this is not mentioned in the Naruto series. A lot of people thought this was actually in the manga/anime, and I'm very flattered you thought so, but it is not.

Second, feel free to ask if you are confused about the whole dream thing. Basically, the sharingan is affected by emotions. The person or thing that brings about the strongest emotions acts as the trigger to the sharingan's power. However, if the sharingan user kills the person that triggers those emotions, the sharingan becomes stronger because the image of that person is forcibly ripped from their own mind when they commit murder, resulting in the magenkyou. Dreaming about one's most important person is the "trigger" notifying the sharingan user that it is possible for them to obtain the mangekyou. (And for those of you wondering, yes, I made all of that up. I'm flattered that so many of you thought my explanation was actually part of the real manga series. It's not. But thanks to those who thought it was.)


	4. Chapter 4: Restless Fighters

This chapter has been edited. That being said, it may still need editing done to it. If you see any mistakes e-mail, leave a review, or personal message me about it. :-)

After editing this chapter, I realize that this chapter is slightly _dry_, though the information is necessary, and will play a part in Chapter 11: Restless Eyes, and even later on in Identity Crisis. That being said, there's a bit of smut at the end of it to look forward to:-)

Restless Chapter 4: Restless Fighters 

As Naruto lay on the slightly damp grass, he took the time to stare up at the stars. It was a week before he was scheduled to take the final match of the Chuunin exams. He had opted at staying the entire night in the area where he and Jiraiya would train (or rather, Naruto would train, and Jiraiya would engage in his peeping Tom activities) in order to make sure he was working as hard as he possibly could. To Naruto, working as much as possible meant sleeping at his training grounds by the river so that he didn't even waste time traveling. The light breeze that blew the sweat off of his face felt incredibly good after all the practicing he had done.

Despite his body's exhausted yet surprisingly relaxed state, Naruto's mind was a whirl as he allowed so many thoughts to float through his mind. Foremost, he thought about Sasuke, and the fact that the two of them had started this new dominance challenge thing. He lay on the grass, content to just wonder if Sasuke had given their challenge as much thought as he had. Closing his eyes, Naruto let his mind wander from this thought to yet another one.

No, he wasn't trying to sleep as he lay underneath the stars. His body was just way too sore to practice. Jiraiya had gone off on a yelling rampage at him when Naruto had failed the summoning jutsu _again_. Jiraiya had forced Naruto to run up and down the mountain with weights on his legs and carrying heavy water buckets in his hands the entire day. Jiraiya said if that didn't work, then tomorrow he would think of something else to try and get him to "realize" his chakra potential. He needed to stop producing that "tadpole." Naruto had never learned that word before. Or at least, not in the language that everyone else knew. Naruto knew it as kē dŏu.

Naruto had long ago come to realize that part of his biggest problem during training was trying to understand what people were saying. After all, the language that everyone in Konoha spoke was his second language, and he had had to teach it to himself, so it was only natural that he sometimes had trouble.

Since he had no parents, and the orphanage hadn't wanted him, he'd been given to the monks of the shinobi temple. Naruto never knew if it was because they had originally thought that he would end up staying at the temple, or because they honestly hated him (he had always expected the later), no one had ever thought to teach him anything other than Chinese, the language that the monks used. Thus, Naruto's first language was the language of the monks. He had done all of his studying in their language. He had even been able to read and write it at a young age.

He'd been a very studious child then since that was all that he had been allowed to do. The monks had kept him confined to the northeastern sector of the temple and its grounds. He was never allowed to go outside and play like a normal child. He was disciplined. He'd been the most obedient child he could be. His room had always been immaculately tidy. He'd always made sure to keep himself clean. Still, for whatever reason his young brain could not seem to comprehend, they all seemed to dislike him. No one had noticed just how incredibly bright he had been as a child. Not that it made a difference now because he had long since learned that he much preferred on hands learning than studying, but still, if someone had paid his studies any mind then, it may have made a difference in the long run. It wasn't even that all of the monks had _hated_ him; it was just that no one had _liked _him.

Naruto was the only child at the temple. The monks had had to feed him and watch him as a baby, and they made it clear that he was a burden to the temple. He had done his best to behave in order to try and get someone, _anyone_, to just like him. But none of them had. He had been overlooked as though he didn't exist. Naruto had been left to himself for the most part, only socializing when someone asked him to do chores. For the most part, he kept to himself in his room, sometimes days at a time. Being cooped up for days on end hadn't bothered him either. How could it bother you if you didn't know there was something better? He spent his days studying or doing some simple training for his young body in his small room.

Of course, having studied, Naruto knew that there was more besides what he knew inside the Temple's walls, but everything else seemed so far away to his young mind. He had never seen beyond the walls, and to a young child, that meant that it would not be real for him until he had.

The day that Naruto found out about the grounds outside the Temple was ironically the worst and best day of his life. It was the best day of his life because he had found out that there was so much more he could be doing, but it was the worst day because he hadn't known about those other things. The crashing reality of how much he had been missing out on overwhelmed his youthful comprehension.

It was almost like walking into another realm. It would take him years to literally understand the people of Konoha and their strange tongue, and he had never fully caught up to certain habits and customs, having never had anyone to properly teach him or guide him.

Naruto's interesting day had started out when Sandaime Hokage had come to check up on Naruto on his sixth birthday. Naruto, as always, had been cooped up in his room at the Temple. Sandaime had come into his tiny room to see him. Naruto had seen this man before, but didn't know who he was. So when Sandaime said "hello" Naruto would have been more than willing to give a kind response back - if he had understood what Sandaime had said. Another man quickly followed Sandaime into Naruto's room, the head Monk, Matachima, and hurriedly said something to Sandaime in that funny sounding language.

"Hello," Sandaime said again, this time in the same language that Naruto understood.

From that moment, the next several days were a blur of changes. Sandaime had come to let Naruto into the shinobi academy. Naruto would have to start some studying on his own to learn that funny sounding language, but he felt that he could manage. He had been instructed to pack all of his things and to come to stay at a little apartment for a time. Naruto, having been raised by monks, was perfectly capable of living on his own, at least, according to head monk Matachima. Sandaime had given the man a doubtful look, but it was clear that the Temple didn't want him, and it was clear that this new opportunity for Naruto was something that Naruto truly wanted.

Sandaime sighed. When he had gone to the Temple, he had originally planned on Naruto still staying at the Temple while he trained, but clearly the Temple would not allow him to stay if he were training at the academy. They felt it too dangerous for the rest of the shinobi if the _demon_ were to accidentally slip up while trying to practice becoming a ninja. Sandaime had deadpanned that the shinobi Temple would be the best place for him because of the amount of shinobi present, and if they couldn't handle a child, then what were they doing as shinobi in the first place?

Monk Matachima had the dignity to stutter an apology and try to insist that he was only joking and that _of course_ Naruto could stay at the Temple, but Sandaime would have none of it. It had clearly been a bad choice for him to let Naruto grow up with the monks. The boy seemed so uncultured already that it might be better for him in the long run to learn from experiences, rather than remaining cooped up in the Temple. So, Sandaime took Naruto's hand, Naruto grabbed his pathetic little backpack, and the two of them headed down the mountain to Konoha village.

It was the first time that Naruto could remember being outside of the Temple. Sandaime showed him around town, and Sandaime had then treated him to lunch at a place called Ichiraku. He had the most wonderful lunch in the entire world: ramen. He was so excited to have something with a flavor, something so different than overcooked, dry vegetables, that he instantly liked it. Sandaime had chuckled at Naruto's enthusiasm, but had then had to excuse himself to use the bathroom. Naruto was sort of sad to see the old man go, even for just a moment, because Naruto had no idea how to speak that funny language. However, Naruto was quickly side-tracked when the friendly (which was the reason that Sandaime had picked that place to eat at) owner placed another bowl of ramen in front of him, that he was so absorbed in the new flavor at the booth that he didn't notice the strange glances that he was getting. Of course, he also did not understand the language of the strange whispers from behind his back.

"Is that - is that _him_?"

"I think it is! Without a monk escort no less!"

"Why did they let that thing out?"

"Goodness knows it looks wild. Look at the shabby state of clothes that thing has on. Probably needs a bath!"

Although Naruto had been oblivious, Sandaime Hokage had not been. And though he may have been older, Sandaime's hearing was not at all bad. It was quite a frightening thing to get on the wrong side of a Hokage. It was even more terrifying to get on the wrong side of a Hokage while he was trying to finish peeing.

"Ladies. I think you should get going," Sandaime said sharply, coming out of the backroom from where the bathrooms were located. Perhaps the fact that Sandaime was right in front of them so suddenly, or perhaps he was emerging looking so pissed after, well, pissing, but whatever it was, the expression on their faces was so startled and so comical looking, that Naruto, who didn't know what was being said, couldn't help but burst out laughing. It was this notorious incident that later would mark Naruto as rude and a little demon. The women had been shamed, and they said that Naruto shouldn't laugh at anyone in a situation like that. The women had gossiped terrible things about Naruto all around town, but Naruto hadn't known that Sandaime was yelling at them, so how could he have been rude? Besides, when the two women retold the story all over town, they conveniently left out the part about the Hokage even being there, just mentioning that they had met that demon brat and how rude he was.

Of course, Naruto didn't find out any of this until much later.

It had taken the extremely intelligent six year old a long time to get accustomed to the new life after Sandaime had left him at his new apartment. In the beginning, he had done everything that Sandaime had told him to do. Naruto spent hours upon hours learning that funny sounding language. He had trouble teaching himself how to write it. It was so similar to Chinese, but even though many of the picture words were familiar, not only did they have a different meaning, none of them sounded like anything he was used to.

After getting settled in his little apartment, Naruto had found it very hard to stay by himself. First of all, he was scared. He was alone, and he had no idea how to talk to anyone except for the few phrases that Sandaime had made sure he knew. Second of all, whenever he went out, no one wanted him around. They were always so mean to him, and said strange words to him. Words that he could only repeat and run home and try to figure out what they meant.

Every word those people said to him turned out to be mean words, but he didn't know what to say back. He also didn't understand what the people were saying at the new school that he was studying at. He tried his very best to mimic what everyone else was doing, but he knew he frequently missed something in the instructions. He tried so hard, yet couldn't keep up. Everyone laughed at him, and he knew that it wasn't a nice laugh. Naruto was utterly miserable. He did his best to get people to like him. He also did his best to try and get people to let him sit with them so that he could try and learn their funny language, but they always said one of the first phrases that he had learned: "Go away."

Two months passed like this. Little Naruto didn't know what to do. Finally, he was tired of not being able to learn the silly language, so he finally went to a place where they didn't kick him out: the local bars. The men were usually too drunk to notice him, and no one really cared anyway. He was good at not being noticed - he was used to it from being at the Temple for so long. It was by watching these men (and sometimes women) that he was able to learn some of the language. Of course, the type of language he learned was not the kind of language that he was supposed to be using.

When he had gone to Ichiraku and said, very brightly, having picked up this phrase at the bar last night, "Give me some God damn food you dirty crook!" to the old man behind the counter, it was then that someone first realized that Naruto was having some problems with the language. Thankfully, ramen storeowner was smart enough to realize that the kid clearly didn't know what he was saying. Still, the comment was not appreciated. With one eye twitching, the old man Teuchi replied, "if you say that to me again, you will never be allowed to eat here anymore." After apologizing, Naruto was finally able to get some help from the old man since Teuchi realized Naruto needed some help. Teuchi did his best in teaching Naruto. He wasn't a particularly good teacher when it came to writing the language himself, but he made sure Naruto learned the basics.

Finally having some sort of knowledge, Naruto finally felt better. Once he felt that he had mastered the blasted language to the degree that he need, his whole persona changed. He had so many different freedoms now that he had never dreamt of having before that he developed a rebellious spirit. He wanted to be able to run around freely. So he did. He wanted to be able to go to bed at all hours of the night. So he did. He wanted to do things he knew he wasn't supposed to do. He wanted to be noticed - which he was, but not in a good way. At first, he thought that he could salvage his reputation at school by trying to be one of the smarter kids, but he was still too far behind from everyone else, that he just had trouble keeping up. He learned the new things, but without having a grasp at the basics, many of the jutsu and other, more complicated tactics, went right over his head. So, he gave up on trying to be smart, and sat quietly in the back of the class.

Still not being quite fluent in the language, Naruto was tired of being yelled at for no reason. He quickly became tired of being quiet and unnoticed, except when someone felt like picking on him. Since he was already getting yelled at, why not get yelled at for something he did?

He remembered the first night that he ventured out with the idea of creating some mischief. It had been the first time he saw Sasuke outside of class. He assumed that Sasuke had never seen him, but Naruto clearly remembered the look that he had seen on Sasuke's face that night. He was sad and lonely.

Naruto knew that Sasuke was part of a well-known family. He knew that because the first time he had learned about Uchiha Sasuke, it had been because one of the girls in his class had been so excited about talking to him because he had asked _about_ Sasuke. It had been Sakura. The first person who had talked to him was Sakura. That was the reason that he decided that she would be the only girl he could go after since she had been the first to talk to him (even if it was all about Sasuke). Anyway - back to Sasuke.

Naruto had originally decided that he was going to paint those walls outside the Uchiha section a bright orange color, but felt that he couldn't do it with Sasuke looking so sad as he sat with his black-haired head in between his knees, his back pressed against the outside of the complex's walls. Besides, Naruto would have to get Sasuke to move from off the wall that he was leaning on in order to paint it.

Naruto was going to go and talk to Sasuke when a man, who was clearly Sasuke's father, came out and told him coldly to come in. Naruto felt bad for him. It was clear that Sasuke wanted to please his father because he scrambled to his feet as fast as possible and did his best to look presentable. His father paid him no mind.

'He's like me,' Naruto mused to himself, 'he wants his Dad to pay attention to him, just like I want others to notice me.' Naruto was able to see that easily. He decided not to paint the walls orange. Though he did have to pee, so he decided taking a piss on the wall was a good way of saying he didn't like Sasuke's Dad too much.

Another three months went by, and finally - finally! - Naruto found himself able to speak fluently. Even with old man Teuchi's help, he still spent hours late at night in the bars, and even later hours doing his best to study the scrolls in the dim light by the moon in his small apartment. Eventually, Naruto noticed a new problem at school. Everything started to look fuzzy. Not overly bad, but definitely not perfect either. Of course, Naruto just brushed it aside. With no medical exams, he himself nor anyone else ever realized that Naruto had done serious damage to his eyes by studying so closely those funny characters, studying in dim light, and staying late in the bars hidden.

The interesting thing about how the Kyuubi healed was that the demon could only heal what was vitally necessary for its host in order for it to stay healthy. Since the eyes were not directly related to a health problem, his eyes stayed damaged. If anyone had noticed, they would be easily fixable with the right jutsu. They weren't like Kabuto's eyes where the nerves had been severely damaged, but without anyone noticing Naruto, and therefore his physical health, there was nothing Naruto could do about it.

So, as Naruto stared up into the night sky with his blurred vision at the training grounds, not knowing that his vision was blurred, not knowing that it affected him as a ninja, Naruto thought about Sasuke. He thought about that first time he realized that Sasuke was alone. His thoughts then traveled to the time that he found out that Sasuke's entire family had been killed a year or so after he had first seen Sasuke sitting alone outside the Uchiha walls by himself.

Sighing, Naruto's thoughts once again changed to wanting to tell Sasuke thank you. He knew that Sasuke was lonely too, and he assumed that Sasuke had realized that Naruto was lonely as well, and that's why they had decided to do what they were doing - whatever it was. Battling over who was strongest or whatever they had agreed to. Naruto smiled. He finally had found someone similar to him.

"Okay! I will beat him and show everyone that I am strong, and then there will be lots of people who want to be my friend!" Naruto said out loud to himself, finally finding the strength within his arms to stretch out his fist and clench it back to himself. He hopped back up and began practicing the kuchiyose no jutsu - the summoning technique. Naruto practiced for two more hours before once again falling exhausted to the ground.

The next thing Naruto recalled was waking the next morning as a thing of water was dumped unkindly on his head.

"Really kid! You need to start practicing!" Jiraiya said cheerfully, finding great amusement in waking Naruto up as unceremoniously as possible.

"Unnnnnnnn. Sleeeeeeeeeeeep," Naruto spluttered and groaned tiredly as he wiped the water from his face.

"Up!" Jiraiya bellowed pounding Naruto hardly on his head.

"ITAI!" Naruto yelled in pain. "What was that for?!" Naruto asked, fully awake, drenched, and annoyed.

"Disobeying your sensei," Jiraiya said with a "hmph" added on at the end. Naruto sighed grumpily and did what Jiraiya said and got up.

------------

The next evening, as Kakashi and Sasuke sat down for a late lunch, Kakashi looked up to see a bird cawing. He waited, listening carefully to the crow's cries, and then sighed.

"Naruto's in the hospital," Kakashi murmured, unconcernedly to himself, but Sasuke heard him nonetheless.

"What? What do you mean in the hospital?" Sasuke asked, suddenly worried, despite trying his best to act as if this news meant nothing to him.

"His trainer went a little haywire," Kakashi explained.

"Ebisu-san? He doesn't seem like the type," Sasuke said, bemusedly.

"Iie. Not him. Someone else wanted to train Naruto specially," Kakashi said, his smile hidden behind his mask, but Sasuke still noticed the slight crease in his eyes that let Sasuke know he was smiling.

"What do you mean 'specially?'" Sasuke asked, obviously annoyed now. Kakashi knew that Sasuke didn't like thinking of Naruto as being above him.

"Ah nothing, but it appears that he was pushed too hard by who was training him. I'm actually a little surprised. I would have assumed that he would have been sent to the hospital sooner," Kakashi watched as Sasuke smirked to himself. Clearly Sasuke presumed that Kakashi thought this because he didn't believe Naruto capable, but then Kakashi added, making sure to emphasis the name in order to wipe the smirk off of Sasuke's face "After all, Yondaime himself was hospitalized much sooner when the same teacher decided to train him for the Chuunin exams as well," Kakashi's smile grew wider as he saw Sasuke's usually expressionless face grow to one of utter determination.

"Then why aren't we training now? I need to train harder!" Sasuke demanded. Again Kakashi smirked.

"As you wish."

Still, it was obvious to Kakashi that Sasuke was distracted throughout the entire training the rest of the evening. Kakashi finished Sasuke's training at normal time, but told Sasuke that he should take the following morning off because he had some business to take care of. Sasuke looked annoyed, but nodded nonetheless. In reality, Kakashi really had nothing to do, but he knew that Sasuke was ever so slightly curious, and perhaps even slightly worried, about what had happened to Naruto to put him in the hospital.

"I'm going to head back to my house. You can stay here if you wish," Kakashi said as the stars winked down at him, almost sharing his joke. As Kakashi disappeared, Sasuke debated on whether or not to go back to Konoha too. He would either stay here and train by himself, or go back and see what had happened to the dobe. Reasoning with himself that if he were to try and push his endurance, he could run all the way to Konoha and back. Yes, that was the reason that Sasuke used in his mind, though he knew there was another reason altogether that he was heading back.

------------

Naruto looked rather unlike himself in the hospital room, Sasuke mused. Sasuke crouched at the window, slightly breathless. It was close to 2AM in the morning, and he had made excellent time running from his training grounds to Konoha hospital. Naruto was clearly incoherent, but Sasuke couldn't help walking over to him to touch his face, tracing the lines where he had scars on each side of his cheeks.

"Oi, Naruto. Wake up," Sasuke said, loudly. He wanted to make fun of Naruto for being put in the hospital, and taunt him a little before going back to training. Naruto didn't move.

"Naruto, wake up!" Sasuke demanded, this time, roughly shoving Naruto. Still, the blond didn't move. Sasuke was beginning to get seriously worried. He didn't understand it. He knew that Naruto was a fast healer, so why didn't he get up already? Had the training drained him this bad? Sasuke walked to the front of the bed to see if Naruto's chart was hanging on the edge of it, but there was nothing. Then he remembered that when he had been in the hospital – not too long ago – his chart had been outside the door. Making sure that no one was around, Sasuke opened the door and grabbed the chart. He quickly scanned in, reading what it said:

_Extreme chakra use. Internal damage to organs. Expected recovery date: 12-14 days._

What the heck? Naruto wouldn't be able to participate in the final exams! The exams were only a few days away. Still, it explained why Naruto wasn't moving. Sasuke felt guilty at trying to wake him up. He put the chart back into the holder and headed back into the room.

Sasuke sat on the bed looking at Naruto, mad at him. "Stupid dobe. I thought for sure that I was going to get to fight you. Hurry up and heal fast, okay?" He sat on the bed for a full two minutes before realizing that he was losing valuable training time. He got up and began to leave, when-

"Sasuke…" the murmur came from behind him. He whirled around to find Naruto standing at the side of his bed. "Sasuke…" Naruto said again, but this time, with the way he said it, and the look in his eyes, Naruto was still not awake.

"The idiot's sleep walking," Sasuke groaned to himself.

"I will win against Sasuke," Naruto said, his semi-conscious self still as determined as ever. "I will be dominant, not Sasuke-bastard," Naruto said. Sasuke couldn't help it. Even if he was sleep walking, Sasuke couldn't let Naruto get away with such a comment.

"Oi, dobe—" but before Sasuke could finish the insult, the sleepwalking Naruto had grabbed Sasuke and had pinned him down to the bed.

"_I'm_ better than Sasuke," Naruto repeated, his lips crushing Sasuke's beneath his own. Sasuke couldn't help but moan at the pleasurable feeling. He knew that in Naruto's current health condition, and Naruto's sleepwalking state, he really shouldn't be doing this, but the reassuring death grip that Naruto had on his arms made Sasuke realize that Naruto himself wasn't as deathly weak as those dumb charts made him out to be. Sasuke pushed Naruto back, but Naruto wouldn't budge. It made Sasuke's groin harden to feel how strongly Naruto was holding him as he struggled against Naruto's body. Sasuke wasn't using his full strength, he really didn't want to hurt Naruto to prevent him from being in the tournament after all, but he could tell that Naruto had grown in his training. It was an exciting thing for Sasuke. If he could dominate Naruto, it would be all that more pleasing because he would beat a more worthy opponent. Naruto's hand found its way inside the hem of Sasuke's shorts and boxers, and began to harshly jerk Sasuke off. Sasuke's struggling against Naruto ceased as he felt the pleasure fill him, letting Naruto have his unconscious way with him.

"What's that noise coming from patient Uzumaki's room?" Sasuke's blood froze as he heard the muffled voice of one of the nurses.

The door swung open, but the only thing the nurse found was Uzumaki lying with his eyes wide open with a sort of dazed look on them. She shrugged her shoulders and left.

As Sasuke hurried as fast as possible from the direction of the hospital back to the training grounds, he smiled. He couldn't wait until he got to fight with Naruto. On the battlefield – and off it as well.

Next Chapter: Restless Winner 

Umm…::puts fingers together like Hinata:: I like reviews. ;-)


	5. Chapter 5: Restless Winner

This chapter has been edited. That being said, it may still need editing done to it. If you see any mistakes e-mail, leave a review, or personal message me about it. :-) 

Some more recap in this chapter. A bit of smut in the next though. ;-)

Restless Chapter 5: Restless Winner 

Kakashi smirked slightly as he watched Sasuke approach from atop the cliff where they had been training. Sasuke clearly had not had much sleep, but that did not matter. His chakra reserves were fine to work with, and his head was now clear, sleep or not. A shinobi was trained from an early age to go without sleep. Now that his head was clear from worrying about what happened to Naruto (or so Kakashi thought) his training would go much more smoothly. They began training immediately. Powering up his chidori, Sasuke took a shot, impressing Kakashi once again with how quickly he had managed to learn that jutsu.

Sasuke pushed himself extremely hard the entire day, barely resting. He had used one chidori shot, and then another right after it. Kakashi had dutifully explained that two shots seemed to be the limit of Sasuke's ability to use the chidori without draining his chakra and possibly killing him at this point in time, but that did not deter Sasuke from training all day. He still continued to train just as hard, if not harder, than before going to see Naruto. There was a glint in his eyes that told Kakashi that not everything had been as resolved as he had hoped, but there was definitely an improvement in Sasuke's attitude once he had learned that Naruto was out of immediate harm's way. When Kakashi mentioned Naruto briefly, Kakashi was amazed at the extra "oomf" Sasuke began training with.

Despite Sasuke's renewed vigor to his training after Kakashi had mentioned Naruto, Kakashi noticed that Sasuke also seemed somewhat desperate. Kakashi knew that the main reason that Sasuke had started training so hard during the academy was to take revenge on his family by killing Itachi. Revenge was something that could become quite dangerous. However, Sasuke seemed to have developed a safer, short-term goal: beat those that were around him in order to become stronger. Right now, Kakashi knew that there were many other foes that Sasuke needed to focus on. Many of them would want to kill Sasuke if they could - for instance, the person who was radiating pools of killing intent from behind one of the rock formations nearby.

"You may as well come out. I know that you're there," Kakashi sighed, noting the semi-surprised look on Sasuke's face. He was only slightly annoyed that Sasuke had not picked up on the large killing-intent of chakra, but perhaps due to how drained he was from using two chidori shots and then non-stop physical taijutsu, it was understandable.

However, Kakashi only had a split second to think through all this as he observed the red haired boy in front of him as Gaara of the desert stepped out from his "hiding" spot. Kakashi had actually done quite a bit of research on Gaara when he had learned that Naruto would be in his team. He knew that there were other Bijuu, other demon holders, but the only one that the Konoha archives had been able to verify such top-secret information on had been about Gaara. In fact, only a few in Konoha knew of Gaara's inner demon. Kakashi only knew that there was such information available having been the Yondaime's former student. Yondaime had known because, well, Yondaime seemed to know everything.

Sasuke shifted his footing, feeling at quite the disadvantage. His chakra reserves were low, and here was the opponent of his first match seeing him in such a weakened state. Cursing under his breath, he could only look at Kakashi in order to avoid fighting him now. As Kakashi began to question what Gaara was doing there, Sasuke began to search for a way to use his surroundings in order to outmaneuver Gaara. Although unconscious during the match between Lee and Gaara, he had heard in the hospital of Lee's condition. Lee had beaten Sasuke before the first exam, and Gaara had destroyed Lee's chances of ever becoming a shinobi without sustaining any significant damage himself. Sasuke's worried musings stopped as he noticed that Kakashi and Gaara had stopped talking. Sasuke looked over at Gaara. Gaara stared back.

"You have the same eyes as me," Gaara said in a strange sounding voice. Sasuke smirked. This guy clearly thought that they were on the same level. He got the feeling that Gaara was trying to say that they both had seen more than their share of childhood tragedy, and that they had the same eyes because they had seen the same kinds of horror. _Blah blah blah_. Such nonsense. Sasuke was about to make a retort, but he stopped, as a vision of blue eyes flashed in front of him with the exact look Gaara was giving him now.

With a jolt that he hoped didn't show on his face, he finally realized what it was about Naruto that had always seemed to bug him; it was Naruto's eyes. Sasuke heard himself talking, making some sort of reply, but his thoughts were elsewhere. It was then that Sasuke remembered seeing Naruto with the same sort of haunted look in his eyes, but he couldn't remember when, though he had a feeling it was sometime during their Academy days. Either way, Sasuke remembered the conversation that he had had with Kakashi when his sensei had woken him up the day after Naruto had first unknowingly molested him in his sleep.

"_Kakashi-sensei...what happened to Naruto's parents? Did they leave him money to help him with his finances? Or does Konoha help him out?"_

"_If you want to know about Naruto, ask Naruto," Kakashi had said._

Sasuke shook his head. With a dangerous opponent right in front of him, now was most certainly not the time to be off in la la land. He had to focus despite his mind drifting to the realization about Naruto.

Sasuke would have to ask Naruto about his past later. He wanted to know why it had taken Gaara talking about eyes to realize it was Naruto's eyes that were the key to how _he_ connected with _Naruto_. Again, Sasuke realized that now was NOT the time to be thinking about Naruto, and he should focus on beating this guy into a bloody pulp because that was the only way for him to progress in the exams in order to fight another opponent, hopefully Naruto. Then he could beat the crap out of Naruto in order to help quell his growing frustration with the blond. Or molest him – whichever came first.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed upon Gaara, finally feeling the killing intent radiate off of Gaara towards him. Sasuke's smirk grew to hide his slight fear, but suddenly, Gaara began acting strangely. As Gaara clutched his head and muttered wildly about his existence, a whirl of sand arose, and Gaara suddenly vanished.

Sasuke looked at Kakashi, wondering what the hell that had all been about.

"Be careful around Gaara. He is unstable. He uses both earth and wind elements as a means to fight and mixes them together in order to control his sand. Your chidori is strong against earth, but weak against wind. However, he uses mostly earth, so your chidori will be stronger. Just remember that using fire against wind is a better means of attack," Kakashi instructed cautiously. Sasuke nodded, remembering their discussion of elemental jutsu attacks, and each elements' strengths and weaknesses. "Now back to our training after our happy little encounter with one of Konoha's supposed allies who wants to kill Sasuke!" Kakashi chirped out merrily. Sasuke's face faltered at Kakashi's abrupt and drastic mood change.

"You're so weird," Sasuke mumbled.

"But I wouldn't be any _fun_ if I were predictable."

-------------

Naruto walked aimlessly around Team 7's first training grounds. Waking up in the hospital to find Shikamaru (who, if Naruto had a choice, would not have had Shikamaru in his top five people to have woken up to) with a basket of fruit (though, since he had brought food, Naruto figured he could squeeze him into slot eight or nine of his top ten) had been less than comforting. Then having that creepy eyebrow-less psycho dude try and kill the fuzzy eyebrows dude was _not _the best thing to have fresh in his mind from the previous day. Nor was that semi-freaky dream he had where Sasuke had snuck into his hospital room to see him. He didn't know why, but something felt really weird about the dream he had, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He figured since he had thought the other sexual experiences he had with Sasuke were originally when he had thought he had been dreaming that it was hard for him to tell when he was dreaming and when it was actually happening. Because of course Sasuke could not have possibly been there in the hospital room. No one knew where Sasuke was training with Kakashi-sensei, except, well, Sasuke and Kakashi.

Naruto looked at his feet, worriedly. No one had heard from Sasuke or Kakashi, and he was getting slightly panicked. He had wanted to talk to Kakashi-sensei before his match against Neji. Truth be told, he was nervous. He couldn't fail. He just couldn't. Neji was incredibly strong, and as most of the people left in the Chuunin exams, possibly quite deadly. Naruto was so preoccupied thinking about Neji's strategies, that it startled him when he actually saw Hinata standing by one of the three pillars at the training grounds team seven usually used.

"Hinata!" Naruto said, looking at the small girl. She scampered, startled at the sight of him, half hiding behind the pole. (1)

"Oh-h, Naruto-k-k-kun," Hinata stuttered back. What a strange girl, Naruto thought to himself. "Why are you here?"

"Uhh...I just...it's nothing. I came to check out this training field. This is actually where I became a genin so..." Naruto's thoughts trailed to the day when Sasuke had fed him as he was tied to the post. He could clearly remember his embarrassment at having to be hand fed. It had been the first time Naruto could remember anyone doing something so kind for him. Sasuke had been so calm, so cool about the whole thing. Despite the fact that he had felt weak for not being able to do it himself, he couldn't help feeling so excited, so happy, that someone had taken it upon themselves to try and feed him lunch. Sasuke had risked (or so they thought) becoming a genin for him. Even after what Naruto had tried to do to him the day before, tying him up, and then pretending to be Sasuke to turn Sakura on him, Sasuke had still been nice to him, in his Sasuke-ish sort of way.

Naruto knew that no matter what happened between him and Sasuke, he would always remember that Sasuke had risked something for him. Even though Sakura had helped feed him too, she had only done so because Sasuke had done it first. And of course, Sasuke had risked much more than him becoming a genin. He had risked his life in order to save Naruto from Haku too.

"Eh? But, why are you here?" Hinata's voice cut into Naruto's musings.

"Oh, uh, nothing! No real reason, it doesn't matter anyway!" Naruto said, turning away from Hinata quickly. He knew it was silly, but he didn't want her to guess that he had been thinking about Sasuke. Or at least, he didn't want to tell her that.

"I guess you're right. Sorry." Hinata mumbled. There was a moment of silence. Naruto's mindset switching from Sasuke back to the match he would be having.

"Ne, Hinata..."

"Hmm?" Hinata asked, her eyes wide.

"Neji, he's a cousin of yours, right?"

"Uh...yeah," Hinata affirmed weakly. Naruto turned to face her again, face flushed.

"So is he, really strong?"

"...Un..." She affirmed. Naruto sighed.

"I see," he mumbled. If he didn't beat Neji, there was no way he'd ever get the chance to fight with Sasuke! If he didn't do that, he didn't know what he would do to prove himself to his rival. If worse came to worse, perhaps he could find that damnable ero-sennin and discover ways of being dominant in other areas…

"But, I mean, you still might be able to win Naruto-kun!" Hinata tried to explain. Naruto laughed forcibly, putting his hands behind his head, meanwhile thinking that it was quite unlikely.

"Yeah, I'm strong too after all!" But he sighed. Thinking about the reality of the odds of him beating Neji didn't make him feel better.

"I know you can win, Naruto-kun. Remember that time that you cheered for me? I felt like, like I was able to become stronger than ever before. When the preliminaries ended, I was finally able to like myself a little. To anyone else, it might look like nothing has changed about me, but I feel different, like I'm a better person now. And I've been thinking that it's all thanks to you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said timidly, her face blushing as she remembered the way he had cheered her on.

"Ne, Hinata, do you really believe that's true?" Naruto paused, his face looking downcast. "I may look strong to you, but all I ever do is mess things up. I act tough because I'm so frustrated. Underneath it all, I just feel like I'm a huge failure," Naruto muttered, speaking on such a deep level was not like him, but he couldn't help it. His feelings recently had gone for a drastic turn, and he couldn't collect his thoughts.

"That's not true! Even when you messed up you were always a, a...how can I say this? A proud failure from my point of view. When I look at you, you just fill me with such admiration. I'm not saying that you're perfect - no one is - but when you do make a mistake, you have the guts to pick yourself up and keep trying. I think that courage, to keep going no matter what, is what real strength is. I just think that you're an incredibly strong person, Naruto-kun."

"Thank you, Hinata, I needed that. Even though I'm used to being the underdog, I guess this time I was just really feeling the strain. I was really down, which isn't like me at all, but I feel 100 percent better now!" Naruto grinned. Honestly, he wasn't being himself. He didn't usually act so moody. That was Sasuke's job. Naruto mentally kicked himself; he was thinking about the teme too much. He needed to seriously beat Neji in order to kick the crap out of Sasuke for rubbing his emo self off on him. Well, not _that_ kind of rubbing. Naruto blushed as a mental image of him and Sasuke rubbing against each other rose to mind before he quickly quelled it.

"I'm glad you do," Hinata's face brightened, her cheeks coloring slightly.

"Alright, I'm off to the match," Naruto said cheerfully, turning to leave. "Thanks again. Hinata - I kinda thought you were umm..."

"What?" Hinata said breathlessly. Naruto tried to figure out what it was that he seemed to like about Hinata. There was just something that made him feel like he wasn't a dobe any more. He smiled as he found the words he wanted to say, all of them escaping in a rush.

"...gloomy, timid, always terrified and basically completely weird," Hinata's world crashed in horrible, horrible slow motion as the words hit her. But Naruto didn't stop there. "But you know what? I actually like people like you!" He walked off, not noticing the way that Hinata's eyes shown, the way her mouth hung open. "Oh! And don't forget to watch me wipe up Neji off the floor in the final competition." In the distance, fireworks began to sound the start of the finals.

"Oh no! I gotta get going, and fast! I'm gonna be late! See you later Hinata!" Naruto waved and ran off. It would have been far kinder of Naruto to have let Hinata's hopes and dreams of ever pursuing Naruto have died there, but with those words, Hinata's heart soared. What Naruto also didn't know was that Hinata had not been the only one to hear their conversation.

Sasuke and Kakashi sat atop the trees in the grounds of team seven. They had been doing some last minute practicing when first Hinata, and then Naruto had walked by. Sasuke sat seething as he watched the conversation between Naruto and Hinata. He felt himself shake as jealousy swept through him. Sasuke watched the scene as Naruto's confession had tumbled out of his mouth, tumbled so easily in the wake of this girl, and the way that she looked at him, the way that she had made him smile, had wracked Sasuke's entire being with the strange emotion of jealousy. As Kiba approached Hinata, and the two of them disappeared to watch the match, Sasuke looked ready to kill.

Kakashi frowned. He had wanted to make it in time to watch Naruto's match, but with the way that Sasuke was acting, it was far better to finish letting him relieve some tension. Sasuke had to be at his prime, relaxed, but able to move freely without acting up his curse. Kakashi feared that in a match with Gaara, he might be forced to use it in order to stay alive. He had no doubts that Sasuke had the _capability_ to win, but he knew that there was a very real possibility that Sasuke could lose. With what he had seen and heard about Gaara so far, it was not entirely far fetched to think that Gaara might try and kill Sasuke. Therefore, Kakashi had decided to try and keep Sasuke as relaxed as possible by keeping him moving before it was his turn. Kakashi had thought Sasuke would be okay, but now, with the scene that they had just witnessed, Sasuke looked anything but relaxed.

"Let's get in another quick bought of taijutsu. Gentle, slow motion. It's less strenuous on your chakra reserves but excellent in clearing your head. Begin," Kakashi said, attempting to slow down his motions to attack Sasuke from the tree. It was much harder than one would expect. To deliberately slow down one's actions was sometimes more strenuous on the body, but it also helped to calm and slow one down. Which is exactly what Sasuke needed, especially when the blow that Kakashi deflected came neither slow nor softly.

"We might be later than I expected," Kakashi sighed as he tried to calm Sasuke down. Honestly, those two boys would be the death of him.

-------------

Naruto stood around the inside of the stadium, his body aching from the strain of his fight with Neji. He looked around at the spectators in the stands high above him, feeling flushed with excitement at his victory. The demonic power that had radiated from him felt so good, so strong that Naruto couldn't help but feel that he was invincible. Still, a slight tinge of regret clouded his victory that he hadn't won just by himself. And a different kind of regret swept over him when he scanned the surrounding area, and still didn't see Kakashi or Sasuke. He hoped the damned bastard had been watching. He wanted to show him how great of a ninja he was. Naruto headed back up with the other contestants, cheerfully as he could be, but when he didn't see Sasuke, and the match was postponed, Naruto felt himself becoming distraught.

He had just had the best victory in his life, and the teme didn't have the decency to show up on time? Naruto sighed. He guessed it was Kakashi's fault. His sensei was always late. They just better show up so that Sasuke was there by the time it was his turn to face Naruto. Naruto grinned. As long as he got to beat up his stoic teammate, he could wait as long as necessary: which by Naruto standards meant till the end of the day.

It felt like an eternity before Naruto saw Sasuke. Quite frankly, he was scared shitless for him. He knew that Gaara would not hesitate to kill Sasuke if necessary, so he only hoped the teme would be able to pull off one of his miraculous stunts as he normally did in order to beat the enemy.

"You better win teme," Naruto growled under his breath.

Next Chapter: Restless Uncertainties 

(1) [AN: FYI, most of this is actual dialogue taken from the anime, episode 59 or 60 - can't remember which one. This dialogue is not my work, but the thoughts of the characters are.


	6. Chapter 6: Restless Uncertainties

You should probably all know what happens from the part where Gaara and Sasuke fight to where Naruto kicks Gaara's $$, so I will only do a brief recap in the story to get to the erm, better parts in this chapter. :D

Warning, some mild smut ahead! Male/male pairing of course. Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 6: Restless Uncertainties**

Naruto felt as though he were flying. His entire body felt exhausted, but in the I'm-so-exhausted-from-training-so-well good kind of way. It still didn't explain why he felt like he was flying. Naruto was only half aware of the fact that his eyelids felt extremely heavy as he tried to remember what had happened...

Sasuke and Gaara had been fighting...

Sound and Sand had invaded Konoha...

Sakura, Shimaru, Pakkun and he had gone after Sasuke and Gaara...

Naruto had to save Sakura, and protect everyone...

Gaara and he had fought...

Gaara and he had fought! With a sudden jolt of adrenaline, everything came back to him.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled, feeling all of a sudden as though he was as energetic as before he had fought with Neji. His eyes widened as he looked down to see tree branches flashing below him in a rush of brown and green colors. He gave a half strangled cry at the realization that he was in midair before tightening his grip around something warm, and yet soft.

"She's fine. Calm down Naruto," Sasuke chided reassuringly, as Naruto realized that the soft and warm thing that was carrying him was none other than his own teammate. Naruto realized bemusedly that if Sasuke found out that he thought about him as soft, Sasuke would probably try and pick a fight with him. 'Hmm...gotta save that one for later when I need a good spar,' Naruto mused to himself, but his thoughts moved quickly away from ways to rile up Sasuke as he began to interrogate his rival.

"What happened? Did I stop Gaara? Where is everyone else? What happened to the people in Konoha? Everyone's okay right?" Naruto asked, looking up at Sasuke.

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes. Obviously everyone wasn't okay because clearly Naruto was being carried around, injured. If the blonde had taken the time to analyze the situation, he would have realized that he had bandages on his face and other areas of his body.

The ANBU med team had arrived shortly after Sasuke had finished bandaging both Sakura and Naruto, demanding a full report of what had happened. Thankfully, Sasuke hadn't had to say much as Pakkun had done most of the talking. Apparently, as a former ANBU, Kakashi had known these particular medical nin, and so Pakkun was very familiar with them, as well as the type of report that they had wanted. Sasuke had watched with great interest as the three males and one female seemed to absorb the information without changing any type of body language. Then again, wearing masks made it very difficult to tell. When Pakkun was retelling the tale of how Naruto had heroically stopped the Shukakku form of Gaara, Sasuke had had to look away, anywhere from the blond, and at those ridiculous ANBU masks. It all hurt too much.

Sasuke could still clearly remember the times that he had come home to see his own brother clad in an ANBU captain's outfit, that damn mask swinging eerily at his hip. Memories of his brother always hurt. And then, there was Naruto. When had Naruto become so strong? Hadn't it just been mere hours ago that Naruto himself had been having serious doubts as to whether or not he could beat Neji, his confession to Hinata sounding unhappy and pessimistic, and now he had gone and beaten a demonic vessel? Sasuke wanted answers from the blonde, wanted to know how he had become so strong, and wanted to know why he seemed to be stronger than Sasuke.

Then again, Sasuke mused logically, everything would have been different if the curse seal hadn't started acting up. He was sure if it weren't for the abominable thing that he would have been able to prevent Gaara from even taking on the full form of Shukakku. But a nasty little voice in his head still reminded him that even if he could have prevented it, he still wouldn't have been able to beat the perfect form like Naruto had.

The ANBU had then informed Sasuke of Konoha's victory and the defeat of the Sand and Sound - and then, much to Sasuke's dismay - the death of their beloved Sandaime Hokage. Sasuke nodded his head, feeling a pang of sorrow hit him. He had always liked Sandaime. Everyone had, but he knew that once his fellow teammate found out about the old man's death, it would hit him hard. He wasn't sure if Naruto had had to deal with his parents' deaths or not, something he also wanted to find out about, but he still had a feeling that he would take Sandaime's death horribly. From what he had seen in Wave Country, Naruto took everyone's death hard. Even Zabuza and Haku who had tried to kill them had affected Naruto's emotions to come forth in a tidal wave of raw emotion.

Sasuke had merely been able to nod his head in sad understanding at the ANBU. The female looked over both Naruto and Sakura. Sakura would need to go to Konoha hospital to be checked up. The female medical ANBU said that despite being unconscious Naruto was fine, but would need to be carried home. Sasuke offered to do so, while Pakkun stated that he would go with the medical nin and Sakura back to the hospital to try and find Kakashi. Sasuke nodded again and headed off with Naruto in his arms.

When Naruto had finally come to, and the stream of questions began pouring out of his mouth, Sasuke hadn't known what to say. On some level, he didn't want to be the one to tell Naruto about Sandaime. On another level, he knew that he couldn't lie to him either.

"Konoha beat Sound and Sand," Sasuke began, Naruto letting out a whoop, despite the awkward state of being carried piggyback style over Sasuke's shoulders. "You did beat Gaara, but..." Sasuke trailed off.

"Nani? Nani nani?" Naruto asked, when Sasuke fell silent for a full half a minute.

"Sandaime died," Sasuke said quietly. Sasuke could feel Naruto go stiff on the back of his shoulders.

"Put me down," Naruto voice was quiet, but there was an edge to it. Wanting to argue, but knowing it would get him no where, Sasuke stopped on the next branch he landed on, and let Naruto slide off his back. Naruto straightened himself up without looking at Sasuke, and then slid down the trunk of the tree as if it were one of those metal poles on a playground. Sasuke watched bemusedly as Naruto began to walk, _walk_ – not bounce, slowly and dejectedly back to Konoha. Sasuke sighed, gave the dobe a five-minute head start to clear his head before jumping from treetop to treetop. He landed on the ground next to Naruto, and gave him a clean, and un-provoked clip to the top of the head.

"Teeeeeeeme!" Naruto gritted out, rubbing his head. "What the hell was that for?! I'm injured, can't you see that?" Naruto yelled angrily. Sasuke almost smacked him again. Of course he could see that. He had been the one to bandage him up.

"For being a bigger dobe than usual. Would Sandaime have wanted you to look so upset because of him?" Sasuke said, his superior tone clearly pissing off his rival. Naruto looked away, but gave a small "Tck" in disapproval. But Sasuke's plan had worked. Though he knew it would take a while for Naruto to adjust to such a big loss in his life, Naruto's gaze was now looking ahead with a resigned, but more Naruto-ish light in those blue eyes.

The two shinobi walked in silence as they came near Konoha's gates. There was a great deal of mayhem caused from the invasion, and so Sasuke was not surprised to see that there were three monks from the temple checking people in and out. It was common knowledge to any Konoha academy graduate that when a situation became so grave that the monks of the temple, who were usually isolated and studious would emerge and act as the gate keepers of Konoha. No big surprise there. What was surprising was Naruto's reaction to the three monks. Sasuke had been tempted to remind Naruto to be extra respectful to the monks. Naruto was well known for being slightly short on respect for his elders. However, Sasuke watched opened mouthed as Naruto bowed, actually full out bowed, to what he assumed to be the head monk, and began speaking to him - in a completely different language.

"Matachima-lăoshī. Nĭn hăo. Duìbucĭ. Wŏ he wŏ de tōngxuè hĕn wăn. Qĭng wèn, wŏmen jìnlai ma?" (Very formally said: Teacher Matachima. How are you? I am sorry. My partner and I are late. Please I ask you, may we enter?)

"Kuài jìn lai," (come in quickly) Monk Matchima responded. Naruto bowed again. Sasuke knew he must look like an idiot staring completely opened mouthed at Naruto, but he couldn't help it. Since when did Naruto speak any other language besides Japanese and the broken English words that he every now and then decided to greet Sakura with, and fluently no less! Plus, Naruto had been so respectful to that Monk that it had been like watching someone else inside of Naruto's body. If he had known what Naruto had said, he would have been even more convinced that Naruto was having some sort of strange out of body experience. Though Sasuke did glance around looking for Ino, wondering if this was some sort of joke she was playing by switching into Naruto's body to make him act as he just had.

When Sasuke finally realized he was still gaping, he quickly closed his mouth, gave a quick bow, and followed Naruto into the broken gates of Konoha.

"What the hell was that?!" Sasuke asked incredulously, trying hard but failing to keep his calm demeanor.

"What was what?" Naruto asked confused.

"What you said to the monk just now, that's what!" Naruto looked at Sasuke confusedly.

"I just asked him to let us in. Come off it Sasuke. You of all people should remember from class that if there is ever an invasion you must ask the guardsman to let you in so that they can have enough time to do an analysis on you to test for genjutsu."

"Yes, but, you, you bowed to him! And you spoke in, what was that, Chinese?" Sasuke wondered. Naruto just shrugged.

"Musta slipped out. Haven't seen that old guy in ages. Don't think I've ever spoken any Japanese to him, so I guess my mind just went back to what it was used to and slipped out,"

Naruto just shrugged.

"Since when have you known Chinese?" Sasuke wondered, his head cooling down as he tried to reason with himself that he was being stupid. What did it matter to him anyway?

"Always. That was my first language. I didn't have any parents, and there are no orphanages within the Hidden Village so I was sent to live with the monks. I moved out at five or six. Didn't the academy teachers announce that when I was brought into the classroom that I may need help learning not only the lessons but the language as well? Sandaime told them to tell the class in hopes that some of the other students would help me learn better," Sasuke merely shook his head, a few things becoming clearer to him.

"Not that I remember," Sasuke answered. Something flickered in and out of Naruto's eyes. He didn't seem overly surprised.

"Guess I'm not surprised," Naruto confirmed, his hand going to his chin and scratching it, giving off the look of someone trying to look thoughtful. Sasuke would have asked what he meant by that, but out of nowhere, Naruto, doubled up over his stomach, and began coughing. The coughs shook his body so thoroughly that he sank to his knees. He spat out blood from his mouth before the coughing stopped.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said concerned. He helped pull Naruto to his feet.

"Heheheh..." Naruto laughed weakly, wiping the blood from his lips. "Guess I did a pretty good toll on my body with all the chakra I was using, ne?"

"You should go home and rest. I'll walk you there," Naruto merely nodded and the two of them headed to Naruto's apartment. Sasuke kept giving Naruto sidelong glances, wanting to ask him a million questions. One was about whether or not he should go to the hospital after all, others were about his childhood, and the majority were about what he had done for his training. Quite frankly, Sasuke was jealous. How had Naruto managed to get this strong? He still couldn't comprehend it. Sasuke couldn't decide what to ask him first, but it was Naruto to break the silence.

"I can't believe Kakashi-sensei wasted teaching you the chidori! That's not fair. It looks so cool," Naruto said, biting out his frustration. Sasuke gave him a smug look. Naruto, for his part, had been feeling just as jealous of Sasuke as Sasuke had been of him.

"That's because I'm better than you Dobe," Sasuke smirked, feeling slightly pleased that Naruto seemed so riled up.

"Tch, no you're not. Everyone knows I'm better!" Naruto grinned.

"If you were better than me then you wouldn't be coughing up blood," Sasuke gritted out, though secretly feeling slightly inferior to Naruto, a feeling he didn't like at all. "You should go get your chest checked up you know."

"You're not my teacher, so don't tell me what to do, teme!" Naruto hollered back, as the two of them unknowingly had already reached Naruto's apartment during their bickering. Naruto jammed the key into the lock of his apartment, and slammed the door open.

"Oh yeah? Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?" Sasuke bit out, and then immediately regretted it, even before seeing Naruto's reaction. He had forgotten for a moment that Naruto didn't have any parents, and forgot that if someone had asked him that, he would have been pissed.

In fact, Naruto _was_ pissed. He wanted to take a swipe at Sasuke's jaw, but decided against it. The stupid bastard.

"I forgot," Sasuke muttered. Translation: apology. Naruto grunted. Translation: apology accepted.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners? You're supposed to enter someone's home if they open up the door to you," Naruto said back, this time grinning from ear to ear.

"You change moods faster than Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said bluntly.

"Eh? Really? Better thank Kakashi-sensei? Sugoi!" Naruto cheered.

"I said faster, and honestly, it wasn't a compliment baka," Sasuke grumbled, but Naruto wasn't listening.

"If I'm better than Kakashi than I must be better than you! Heheheh! You just admitted that I was better than you!" Naruto grinned. Sasuke's eye twitched, trying to follow Naruto's bizarre logic.

"I am far superior to you!" Sasuke said, and with that, he took a fist full of Naruto's jacket, rammed him against the nearest wall, and forced his lips upon Naruto's. Naruto's eyes widened for a moment, before biting out a "teme!" as he pushed the older boy off of him. In a blur, he lounged at Sasuke, tackling him to the ground, straddling him before pushing his own lips against Sasuke's. But Sasuke wasn't going to stand for that. He bit down on Naruto's lips.

Hard.

Naruto let out a semi growl as he begrudgingly removed his lips from Sasuke's. He swiped the blood off of his bottom lip, noting Sasuke's smug look and the small bit of blood on the side of Sasuke's lip. Once again Sasuke switched their positions, flipping Naruto off of him so that he was the one on top, but instead of kissing Naruto, Sasuke gently and slowly licked the blood off of Naruto's lip, and began to suck gently on the already healing area where Sasuke had bitten him.

The blood in Naruto's veins seemed to boil at the new sensation. Everything seemed to slow down as he took in the feelings around him. Sasuke's weight on top of him. Sasuke's and his throbbing members touching and pulsating against each other through their clothing. The so gentle and warm feelings as Sasuke licked and lapped at his mouth. Sasuke began to slowly grind against the other boy. Naruto pressed harder against Sasuke as they picked up a steady pace of their grinding and thrusting hips.

Although Naruto hadn't been fully asleep through their last two experiences, he hadn't really been fully awake either. To be able to feel things this clearly was wonderful. Sasuke's hand sneaked from out of nowhere as it brushed Naruto's left cheek, tenderly avoiding the bandage on it, and tangled itself into his hair. Again being conscious of Naruto's bandages, Sasuke ever so tenderly pushed Naruto's head to the side. Sasuke began to pant as he nibbled on Naruto's ear. Naruto reveled in the strange feelings of having Sasuke nibble on his ear, as well as the sensation of Sasuke's cheek as it brushed his own, even through the bandage. It felt both warm and cool at the same time. The skin was cool to the touch, but if it lingered on any part of Naruto's exposed skin for more than a moment, he could feel the exchange of heat between the two. He idly wondered if Sasuke's entire body would mimic that feeling to his entire body if they were both touching skin to skin. He felt somehow cheated at not being able to fully feel Sasuke's skin on his cheeks with his dumb bandages on. He wanted to touch more of Sasuke.

Naruto decided he wanted to turn his thoughts into reality as his hands slid underneath Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke moaned as Naruto's hands gently trailed their way from his hips, up his sides, until they were slowly pushing his shirt up to his arms and over his head, trying best not to break the agonizingly slow, but wonderful feeling of grinding against each other. Sasuke propped himself on his arms as Naruto removed his own shirt. Sasuke seemed to realize that Naruto had wanted to feel skin to skin because he laid back down against him, this time with one of Sasuke's hands roaming over Naruto's body, the other arm he used as he propped himself up with his forearm. Naruto's hands were both used to touch what he could of Sasuke. His hands stroked up and down Sasuke's back in the same motion of their slow grinding. Then Naruto's hands trailed from Sasuke's back to his hair, from his hair to his arms, from his arms back to his sides, and from his sides down to the waistband of Sasuke's pants.

This action caused Sasuke to stop their grinding. He rolled off of Naruto, and for one horrible, dreadful moment, Naruto had been certain that he had done something wrong. Naruto lay looking up at the ceiling, feeling the sudden loss of Sasuke as a physical pain to his heart. Sasuke didn't look at him as he got up and walked away from Naruto. Naruto felt ashamed. He shouldn't have gone for Sasuke's waistband, he shouldn't have-

"Are you coming or not Dobe?" Sasuke asked, half amused as he stood fully undressed, though Naruto hadn't even seen or heard him removing everything, sauntering off to the bathroom. "Or are you too chicken to come?" Sasuke taunted.

"Teme!" Naruto leapt from the floor, eyes ablaze, and quickly discarded his clothes on the floor before following Sasuke into the bathroom.

Though their battle for superiority had momentarily been forgotten, it came back in full force as soon as Naruto entered the bathroom. Sasuke grabbed him, and pushed him roughly into the shower. Naruto gave a half strangled cry as he hit the cold shower wall, meanwhile feeling the warm body closing in on him. He nearly lost in there as Sasuke's erect member rubbed fully across his own. This grinding was much harder, much more intense than the slow experimentation on Naruto's living room floor. Naruto took the opportunity to try and push Sasuke back, but Sasuke's grip was unyielding, holding Naruto's arms down at his sides and grinding against him. From their previous grinding, and the new sensation of being pressed naked together, plus their inexperience with such things, made it inevitable for the two of them to orgasm fairly quickly, Sasuke first, followed immediately by Naruto. Their hot liquid poured sticky onto their bellies. Sasuke almost half collapsed on Naruto from the experience.

"Sasuke..." Naruto moaned.

"Un?"

"We're in the shower. You're closer to the knob. Turn on the water to wash this off or else we're gonna stick to each other," Naruto grumbled at having been held down _again_ by Sasuke. At least, he thought Sasuke had held him down before. That first time in the tent was still a bit hazy. He had a feeling he hadn't been totally asleep, and was beginning to remember what had happened, but he wasn't going to tell Sasuke that he remembered that it had been his fault to roll on the teme and molest him.

"Hmpf," Sasuke grunted, but nonetheless turned on the water, allowing for the water to wash them off as they came. Naruto reached a hand out to grab a washcloth and shut the shower curtain, making a mental note to turn the water on before they began anything in the shower the next time. If there was going to be a next time...

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto looked at each other as they began to take turns cleaning the cum off of their bodies. It was awkward and embarrassing for the both of them. Neither tried to look at the other - at least, not when they thought the other was looking. Something about this time had been different. Something about this time had been much more intimate, and on a much deeper level than just trying to best the other. There had been a mutual understanding of a need to just touch and be touched.

"I should get going," Sasuke muttered as he stepped out of the shower and got dressed.

"Thanks..." Naruto began, not sure what to say, "for making sure I was okay," He flashed a grin and a thumbs up, just wearing his towel around his waist as Sasuke nodded and left. As the door closed, Naruto felt something tug at him right in his chest, and realized that there was much more than just a rivalry going on between them.

As Sasuke closed the door behind him, he leaned on it, feeling both exhausted and old. He didn't know why, but an awake and aroused Naruto versus a sleepy and confused Naruto were just so different. The feelings were different. The feelings were better - something he hadn't thought possible, as well as much scarier. Sasuke walked home, the sun beginning to set, and let out a deep breath. At least he had managed to take Naruto's mind off of Sandaime's death.

Perched atop a nearby electrical pole, Kakashi let out a sigh as he watched Sasuke head home from Naruto's apartment. He had a feeling things were even more complicated now than before.

Next Chapter: Restless Brothers

Just as a side note, there will eventually be, how shall I say this, much more graphic yaoi, but not quite yet. That was just a mild scene. ;) Just a heads up for those looking for the more juicy parts. Please let me know what you thought of this fic, and especially the smexy scenes! Jelp


	7. Chapter 7: Restless Brothers

Hello everyone! Much of this chapter is recap of the manga/anime - with additional yaoi thoughts put in of course. And since I tormented Sasuke mentally so much as the end, I decided to uh, give him some stess relief. ;-) Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 7: Restless Brothers**

Sasuke looked on in somewhat amusement as Kakashi tried teaching Naruto the chidori. Naruto was doing the best that he could in order to produce the chakra necessary for the chidori, but it was clear he had no idea about elemental jutsu, nor obviously what his concentration area was. Sasuke was strong in both fire and lightening, and he doubted Naruto was strong in either. Sasuke could see Naruto being strong in wind or earth. Wind because he was always a complete whirlwind, and earth...Sasuke almost blushed...because Naruto smelled like earth and plants. From what he could recall of Naruto's apartment in hindsight, since he had not been paying attention to any other details besides Naruto yesterday, was that he had a lot of plants. Sasuke mentally wiped all such thoughts from his head. This rivalry thing was beginning to become more of a distraction than anything else, but, Sasuke was definitely enjoying it.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sasuke turned to towards Sakura, her voice shy, not quite as loud and annoying as before. A nice improvement, "thank you for saving me from Gaara." Sasuke felt his blood run cold.

"Iie..." Sasuke muttered a negative. Had Sakura truly no idea? She must have been out of it more than he had thought to not have felt the chakra that Naruto had produced. Sasuke idly wondered if Kakashi knew how strong Naruto was. He had to at least know he was somewhat strong now because his summons dog, Pakkun, probably told him. "The one who saved you was Naruto," Sasuke informed Sakura.

"Yeah right! You're just being modest. Sure Naruto's become stronger, that's obvious, but that sand-nin was so much stronger th-"

"It was Naruto. He risked his life for you. I don't think we've ever really seen the extent of Naruto's capabilities. Before now, you never really acknowledged Naruto, so you've never been able to acknowledge just how strong he really is," Sasuke walked away from Sakura, away from where Kakashi was obviously amused at Naruto's futile attempt at the chidori. Sasuke needed to train. He could not let Naruto beat him. He couldn't be weak.

Sasuke turned around when he heard Kakashi laugh in time to see Kakashi giving Naruto's head a pat, as if to say, there, there. Naruto, for his part, sat cross legged, his cheeks puffed out, in a comical display of defiance.

"Come on sensei! Why can't you teach me chidori?" Naruto pouted. Kakashi laughed.

"I have patrol duty in ten minutes, so I need to head out, ja!" He said as disappeared.

"In ten minutes? And he's leaving now? Either something's wrong with Kakashi-sensei, or he's going to do something else because Kakashi-sensei is never early. He's never even on time!" Naruto grumbled.

"Or he's making up an excuse not to train you, dobe," Sasuke chuckled. His comment was rewarded with Naruto giving him the middle finger. Sasuke "hmphed" as he began to walk away. "I have some training to do, unlike some people," Sasuke said as he looked over his shoulder.

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan. While Sasuke-teme is going to go train, do you want to go get ramen with me?" Naruto asked, his face flushed, and eyes glowing. Sasuke stopped dead, and for the second time in less than five minutes, he felt his blood run cold. Naruto was asking Sakura to go have lunch? Why did he look so happy and excited?

Why didn't Naruto ever look at Sasuke so excitedly? Hadn't they shared something very intimate? Sasuke's blood went from chilled to boiling in 1.09 seconds. Did Naruto think about Sakura when they had been - uh - competing? Or maybe even Hinata? Naruto and Hinata had looked so familiar before Naruto's fight. Was there something going on between the two of them? Sasuke shook his head, letting his emotions cool down. He wasn't being logical. Of course Naruto had been thinking about Sasuke. Hadn't he been moaning his name the very first night without knowing what he was doing?

Sasuke sighed, and decided he'd let it slide. He pushed the feelings of jealousy and uncertainty to the back of his mind. He needed to go train, but it didn't help suppress the smirk that came to his face as he saw Sakura flat out refuse to eat ramen with Naruto.

* * *

Kakashi fingered the orange book in his hand - but he wasn't able to read it. He couldn't concentrate. Sighing, he put the book in his pocket, knowing that things could and would go down hill from here. Two Akatsuki members, here in Konoha? First of all, he had to take precautions to warn others of the potential danger, especially Sasuke and Naruto. There was the ever so small possibility that one of the members could be Itachi, and knowing Sasuke, if he found out Itachi was in the village, he would do something very rash. As Kakashi had seen most recently with Sasuke's interaction with Naruto, Sasuke was clearly not the stoic boy everyone thought him to be. He was a ninja that was hurting from a deep scar. From what he remembered of Sasuke when he used to visit the Uchiha area of Konoha, Sasuke had been energetic, happy, and bouncy as a child before his entire clan had been killed. In fact, in some ways, young Sasuke reminded Kakashi of the current Naruto. Everything about his personality had changed with the slaughter of his clan. Kakashi idly wondered whether or not Sasuke was so intrigued with Naruto because he saw a part of his former self in Naruto.

In order to protect Sasuke, Kakashi had called him out in a public market place. He knew that Itachi would have no qualms about killing the entire village, but he wasn't stupid either. It would make things much more difficult if Sasuke were out in the open. Sasuke would be in less danger here. Plus, Kakashi wasn't even sure that Itachi was after Sasuke. From what Jiraiya had told him, made his blood chill. And to top it off, it might not even be Itachi. The Akatsuki members might be looking for a much different target.

To think that this organization, Akatsuki, was after Naruto - after the nine-tailed demon fox inside him was quite disturbing. What they could want with it, only kami-sama knew, but whatever it was couldn't be anything pleasant with how many high ranking and dangerous ninja were involved in the group. That was what bothered Kakashi the most. One good thing about Jiraiya was that he was efficient when he wanted to be. If he didn't spend so much time with his perverted habits of "research" than he could easily surpass any one he wanted. Then again, Kakashi though whimsically, he'd rather Jiraiya continue his research. He needed the Icha Icha series to keep his mind off of things when everything became a bit overwhelming.

Still, Jiraiya had warned Kakashi that Orochimaru had once been a member of Akatsuki. It was quite possible that Orochimaru still had acquaintances within the Akatsuki, and that the two members could be actually helping Orochimaru try and capture Sasuke. Jiraiya had warned him that they were extremely dangerous S-ranked ninja in the bingo book, and that they might well be on their way to Konoha. Kakashi had therefore been alarmed, but not surprised when he saw the black cloaks with red clouds floating through the market place of Konoha. He had notified Jiraiya right away in hopes for him to get to Naruto. Jiraiya had already asked Kakashi if he could "borrow" him for a bit. He knew Naruto would be safe, but he wasn't so sure about Sasuke. That was why he had called him out in the open so that way Kakashi could keep an eye on the two suspicious Akatsuki members, and know that neither of them could try and capture Sasuke because Sasuke would be coming to him. Kakashi was not delusional. The odds of beating two S-rank criminals by himself when he did not know anything about them were unlikely, but he also knew he would be able to at least protect his ward. Hopefully Jiraiya had already found Naruto and was taking him away from the city. Jiraiya had asked that morning if he could "borrow" Naruto for a special mission. Kakashi hadn't inquired about it, but had obviously agreed. It went back to his theory that Naruto was Yondaime's son, something that he had wanted to ask Jiraiya about, but had felt it wasn't the right time.

Kakashi idly leaned up against the post of the restaurant where the two Akatsuki members were eating. Kakashi was grateful when he saw Kurenai and Asuma walking by. He subtly waved. Kurenai and Asuma walked up to him. Kakashi tried to be light, teasing them about their "date." Both were indignant about the term, but Kakashi knew that the two of them were fond of each other. He wouldn't be surprised if they were actually on a date.

"I'm waiting for Sasuke," Kakashi said nonchalantly.

"It's very rare for you to be waiting for someone," Asuma and Kurenai said, catching on that something was very wrong. Kakashi took a side glance in at the two people. 'Keep an eye on them' Kakashi's meaning was clear.

Sasuke walked up, looking puzzled, and slightly sweaty having been training for about a half an hour.

"Kakashi, it's very different of you to arrive first," Sasuke said, a slight smirk on his puzzled face, finding clear amusement in the situation. He wondered if Naruto had been right in saying that something was wrong with Kakashi-sensei.

"Well...for some occasions..." Sasuke looked even more puzzled as he saw Kakashi glance in at an empty table that someone had clearly just been sitting at.

"I was planning on buying some sweets. It's useless now," Kakashi sighed.

"Yeah it is," Asuma agreed. And with a few muttered hmms Kurenai and Asuma disappeared. Sasuke looked at his teacher.

"Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, feeling he was missing something. There was no way Kakashi would invite him out for sweets, and be early to boot. Kakashi knew Sasuke wasn't fond of any kind of sweets, and realized it must be some sort of code word.

"Come with me," Sasuke followed as Kakashi walked briskly, and was surprised to see him heading back to the Uchia complex. "Sasuke," Kakashi finally spoke, "stay in the Uchia archives. Do no return to me until three hours have passed. Understood?" Kakashi spoke. Sasuke'e eyes narrowed, clearly unhappy about being told what to do without an explanation. But Sasuke was a good shinobi, and shinobi did what they were told no matter what.

"Yes sensei," and with that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke grunted and went into the archives of the Uchiha complex.

He looked around at the scrolls in the room. He hated this room, this place. He knew this was where Itachi had left the secret of the mangekyou sharingan. Sasuke knew for certain that Naruto was his most important person, the secret to unlocking the sharingan. Sasuke blushed as he recalled what they had done just yesterday. The feeling of Naruto's warm body pressed flushed against his, the way they moved in unison as if they knew each other's thoughts...Sasuke had to shake his head. His body was beginning to get heated and aroused at the thoughts from yesterday. Part of it felt like a dream. He didn't know whether or not it was because this time Naruto had been fully conscious and alert of his actions, but it had been different. It felt like he was getting connected to Naruto. He felt...something for him. He couldn't quite put his hand on what though.

Sasuke looked at the family sharingan book. As a child, he had been forbidden to enter this shrine. He could recall begging his father to let him look through the book as he had allowed Itachi to at his age. He knew he wasn't as good as his older brother, but he had always felt that it was because Itachi had been able to read this book and get secrets from it. How many countless times had he asked where Itachi was, only for his mother or father to reply that he was in this shrine, the archives where the Sharingan details were kept? But now that he was the only one left - excluding Itachi - he hadn't wanted to look in here. Some part of him felt that if Itachi had never been in this room that he would never have found out how to gain access to the sharingan, and his family would still be alive. He knew the secrets of the mangekyou sharingan were written in this book.

And what scared Sasuke most was the fact that he could now obtain it himself. Naruto was his most precious person - that much was clear. But there was no way Sasuke could kill Naruto. Though he'd never say it out loud, he cared a lot about Naruto. Still, he was sure that Naruto knew that he cared. After all, he had nearly sacrificed his own life for his, hadn't he? Hadn't he agreed to this stupid challenge?

Sasuke hated not being able to do anything. He was left stuck in a room with nothing but his thoughts, and all his thoughts were about his family or about Naruto. He didn't want to think about his family in this room because the secrets within these walls had been the downfall of his family, and he didn't want to think about Naruto because the more he did, the less he felt in control of himself. He felt as though Naruto were slowly taking something away from him, and for good or bad he couldn't tell, but it frightened him.

Pacing up and down the room, Sasuke decided he could at least be productive and do his best to meditate. If he were lucky, he would be able to rid the unwanted thoughts from his mind. Time always passed quickly when he was in a good meditative state.

But as he sat down on the floor, and crossed his legs, he knew the thoughts were not going to leave his mind so easily.

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha with Jiraiya. Honestly, how dense did the ero-senin think he was? He didn't want to go on some mission alone with him. He wanted to stay and train. He needed Kakashi to teach him how to do the chidori. Besides, he couldn't leave both Sakura and Sasuke alone. They might do something together without him there. He didn't want that. He couldn't give Sakura alone time with Sasuke-teme, or else she'd fall in love with Sasuke and not him, and he couldn't leave and have Sasuke think that he had backed out of their deal, especially now that things were getting more interesting. He had a feeling that Sasuke was winning, and he couldn't have that.

Though...perhaps it wasn't so bad if Sasuke won. Naruto looked away from Jiraiya quickly, hiding the blush that was coming over his face as he remembered last night.

"But if you come on this trip, you'll learn a technique even more powerful than the chidori," Jiraiya had said, jolting him out of his thoughts. "But I guess if you don't want to come, I'll just have to ask Sasuke, and teach it to him."

"No, no, no! I'll come!" Naruto yelled. A technique even more powerful than chidori? He had to go, especially to keep Sasuke from learning it. This would be perfect! He bounded away from Jiraiya, to his home, and, not being able to decide what to pack, basically threw everything into his pack and bounced back to the gates within ten minutes.

Of course, once his initial burst of excitement left him, and he had put his pack down, he couldn't really pick it back up again. It took him another thirty minutes to return home, put everything he didn't really need back and re-return to the gates, though some of his enthusiasm was coming back. He couldn't believe it! A technique even more powerful than Kakashi-sensei's!

Still, amidst the height of his enthusiasm, he felt as though he should go and say goodbye to Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura wouldn't care too much, and Sasuke...he wasn't sure if Sasuke would think he was getting too sentimental. They were just friends, and it was one thing to have a crush on Sakura, it was a totally different matter if Sasuke realized he was beginning to get a crush on him. No, Naruto mused, it was best not to let Sasuke know he was leaving, because he being the genius he was would probably figure out what Naruto was truly thinking, and if that happened, he might want to call off their whole rivalry deal. That was something that he couldn't chance. He recalled the first time he had seen Sasuke outside of school, sitting alone at the wall, lonely even with a family, and he wondered what it felt like to feel that kind of loneliness. Naruto decided he didn't want to find out. He wouldn't push Sasuke away. Now that he had someone that paid him attention, he wouldn't lose it.

"Onward!" Naruto yelled happily as he and Jiraiya headed out from Konoha.

* * *

Sasuke had abandoned his attempts at meditation, and instead head gone outside to train. He had waited an hour inside the shrine, and figured he'd rather die than stay in that room any longer. So for two hours he had trained. Now that his three hours were up, he decided to go and see Kakashi, and hopefully get some answers.

"Kakashi!" It was startling to see Kakashi unconscious in bed, with other jounin around him. He could feel the tense atmosphere in the room as they all looked at him. Sasuke was seriously worried. What could have happen to Kakashi for him to be bedridden in the middle of the day, when he had just been fine that morning? What had gone on during Sasuke's isolation for those three agonizingly long hours?

"What happened to Kakashi, and why are you all here?" Sasuke demanded, losing his cool.

"Uh, well, nothing really-" Maito Gai began to explain before a chuunin charged in.

"Is it true the Uchiha Itachi is back in Konoha, and is after Naruto?"

"Baka." Kurenai scolded the chuunin. Sasuke felt numb as his usually quick mind tried to process what he heard. His brother - Itachi - was here. In Konoha. Looking for Naruto. Sasuke fled the room before anybody could stop him. Why? Why would Itachi be in Konoha and looking for Naruto? Unless...

Sasuke ran frantically to Ichiraku ramen, searching for Naruto. After the old man told him he was leaving for a while with Jiraiya, a man Sasuke's numb brain only slightly registered as being someone very important, Sasuke headed to Naruto's apartment, only to find Sakura coming out, looking confused saying she was looking for Naruto too. After questioning her of Naruto's whereabouts, he headed out of the village, hoping he could do something.

If Itachi was after Naruto, it could only mean that Itachi had somehow found out about how much Sasuke cared about him. If Itachi knew that, he was trying to kill Naruto to prevent Sasuke from gaining the mangekyou sharingan. Now, it would be all Sasuke's fault if something happened to Naruto. Naruto would die because Sasuke cared about him.

Doubts began to flash through Sasuke's mind. Why, why hadn't Naruto told him that he was leaving? It was clear that he would be gone for a while. Didn't Naruto care enough to even say goodbye? The thought that Naruto didn't care about him stung. Perhaps he had been right. Maybe Naruto had only been thinking about Sakura or Hinata.

Sasuke's legs were carrying him frantically from Konoha to the village the old man at Ichiraku had suggested Naruto might be at. He searched every inn, but one false lead after another and another and then another, until finally -

He stopped, looking at the backs of his older brother, and another man wearing the same kind of robes.

"It's been a while, Sasuke." Itachi's voice floated from in front of him.

"I will kill you!" Hate bubbled up within Sasuke. Here was the man who had killed his family, and was now here trying to kill Naruto.

He went after him with blind rage, yet Itachi was able to stop his chidori. It was like all those times that Itachi had beckoned him to his side, just to flick him in the middle of the forehead.

Sasuke collapsed to the floor, willing his body to move, wanting nothing more than to kill Itachi. He could see Naruto begin to do something, that freakily strong chakra that he had felt when he had fought Gaara began to seep from his body, but was quickly stifled by the other man with Itachi.

"Naruto - don't," Sasuke tried to grit out, but he didn't think anyone would hear him. Itachi was his to kill. Naruto didn't matter right now. Naruto _couldn't_ matter to him until he was sure that he could kill Itachi, and get Itachi away from everything that he held dear. All the hate that he had felt cooped up inside him exploded. Everything was Itachi's fault. He had no family because of him. He had no friends because Itachi had scared him from getting too close to people. He had never been able to be the best at anything because Itachi had always been the one to do it first - and be better at it no less. He was the one that his father had always looked up to. He was the one who wanted to kill Naruto.

A man appeared, carrying an unconscious woman, apparently a decoy, over his shoulder. Sasuke growled at the new arrival, who he guessed could only be Jiraiya, the one that had taken Naruto away from him. Sasuke heard Jiraiya make some sort of speech about his greatness, and then confirm that his brother was indeed after Naruto. Sasuke stood upon his shaking feet. Naruto made a move as to attack Itachi, but Sasuke yelled at him not to interfere with his revenge. He could tell Naruto wanted to help, but the dobe didn't understand Sasuke's need to be the one to kill Itachi. Nevertheless, Naruto obeyed his demand and didn't move. Sasuke ignored Jiraiya's warning to not attack Itachi, but he didn't listen.

Everything after that moment was a terrible blur.

Over and over again he saw his parents die. His aunt and uncle. His cousins. Every single person that Sasuke had called family, he watched die at the merciless hands of his brother. The scenes that he had so desperately tried to forget in his nightmares came tumbling back as Itachi forced the images into his mind with the mangekyou sharingan. Even worse was his own sharingan was acting up. He was simultaneously reliving his past, as the dream he had of Naruto killing him with the sharingan began to incorporate itself into his nightmare. He wasn't sure what was and was not reality any more. Over and over again.

Death.

Blood.

Itachi.

Naruto.

He was scared of Itachi.

He was even more scared of Naruto.

Sasuke was only vaguely aware of Naruto standing over him. He tried to move his body away in fear, but he could only stare blankly ahead of him, wondering if he was still stuck in his dream. He was only blankly aware of the urine that was running down his leg from having peeing himself in his fear.

He felt ashamed.

He felt weak.

He couldn't move. He wanted to move, to scream, to kill Itachi, to kill Naruto. No, that wasn't right. Something about that last part didn't seem right. What was wrong with him wanting to kill Naruto? It wasn't until he felt the ghost of warm lips brush his forehead that he was able to realize that Naruto was there, and in Naruto's own way, was trying to comfort him. That was what was wrong. He didn't want to kill Naruto because he cared about Naruto.

He could hear. He could feel. He could taste the blood in his mouth. He could see

Naruto in front of him, but why couldn't he move? He couldn't touch. He heard Jiraiya telling Naruto that Sasuke had no senses, which wasn't exactly true, but maybe he meant control of his senses. He was mildly aware of Naruto's speech claiming to want to defend him, wanting to kill Itachi. Sasuke felt his insides tremble at the name of his brother.

So weak...why was he so weak?

It was through a haze of muddled senses that he realized Maito Gai was taking him back to get medical treatment. Why wasn't he going with Naruto? He wanted Naruto to come back too. Sasuke felt so weak, and he felt as though Naruto would protect him. His thoughts were so jumbled that he didn't understand what was going on.

Sasuke stayed motionless unable to move in the hospital for over a month. Sakura came to visit him every day. Ino, and other members of the rookie nine, but never Naruto. Where was Naruto? It had been an eternity since he last saw him. Had he forgotten him? Or, an even worse possibility came to his mind, had Itachi killed Naruto? The idea was even worse than any scene he had seen through the sharingan.

Sasuke's mind could only replay the horrible scenes in his head over and over again as he watched his family being slaughtered, as he watched Naruto kill him in his mind's eye, and even worse as his own fears played out in his mind as Itachi brutally butchered Naruto. He needed to make sure that Naruto was safe. It was what kept him alive, the desire to stay alive long enough to know that Naruto would be okay.

But Naruto never came. Sasuke couldn't do anything but sit in his hospital bed, feeling the embarrassing care of the nurses as they had to feed him, bathe him, coddle him. Weak, so weak. Why was he so weak?

It was the smell that he noticed first. For days now he could tell that Sakura had hardly left his bedside. He had been touched by that. So when he smelled something other than the flowery scent she seemed to carry, Sasuke's body felt itself relax. It was that earthy smell of Naruto. Naruto was back, and he was okay. If he had been able to, he would have opened his eyes. As it was, he felt a hand touch his forehead as something seemed to clear from his mind. But this was not Naruto's hand. Still, he could feel the tingle of chakra working in his mind.

Sasuke felt his eyes flutter, first seeing a blonde haired woman, probably the one who had been performing the medical jutsu on him, second, a bundle of pink hair as Sakura practically threw herself into his arms.

Sasuke felt really weird. What had the woman done to his mind? Something was different, something was…funny. Hehehe…funny about his mind.

Sasuke inhaled, feeling the engulfment of Sakura's flowery smell. Hahaha... Sakura smelled like flowers. That was funny. Sasuke felt strangely giddy. His mind had been his own living nightmare for the past, how long had it been? A few hours? Things seemed to fade into the back of his mind. The agony he had felt for so long seemed forgotten in a few minutes. He allowed Sakura to hug him, smiling softly as he kept thinking that Sakura smelled like flowers, and finding amusement in the situation.

He wondered if this was jutsu opium. Hehehehe...he was drugged without being given any drugs. Hahahahahaha...

Then he saw Naruto. Actually saw Naruto. Their eyes met as Naruto looked on as Sakura was hugging him. He had a strange expression on his face, a mixture of relief and sadness as he seemed distant from the scene in front of him.

"Sakura smells like flowers. Hahahahaha..." Sasuke finally snickered. "Sakuras are a kind of flower, and Sakura smells like, like a daffodil!" Sasuke continued to giggle.

Tsunade, who had been about to leave, turned to look at Sasuke.

Naruto's mouth was agape. Was Sasuke, giggling? Even Sakura had backed away from Sasuke in order to better look at him.

"Uh, yes. That can happen sometimes," Tsunade explained sheepishly. "He was in such a bad state mentally, that the jutsu I used was supposed to help him forget any kind of mental trauma he had undergone at the hands of the sharingan, but I must have allowed for too many of his dopamine neurotransmitters to enter his brain in a larger quantity than I had anticipated."

"Nani?" Sakura asked concerned.

"Basically the genjutsu of the sharingan controls different sections of the brain. When activated, it can actually target the neurotransmitters - that cause people to feel different emotions - to close or expand the opening, allowing or denying access to the transmitters. Too many transmitters can cause euphoric feelings, making a shinobi careless in his or her tactics in fighting, or depressed, also causing problems within the brain."

"And what the heck does that mean for Sasuke baa-chan?" Naruto asked confused.

"Basically, Sasuke is, uh, shall we see "high" and will be very giddy for up to three hours," With that, Tsunade left, leaving Sakura and Naruto to stare at Sasuke, horrified. Perfect Sasuke, doped up/ Sasuke, giddy? Somehow that seemed very, very scary.

"Wow, I could really go for some cake," Sasuke said cheerfully. "Sakura would you mind getting me some?"

"Not at all Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said happily, giving him another hug, wiping the tears of relief from her face. "Thank you Naruto-kun for bringing Tsunade to Sasuke," Sakura whispered as she walked by him. Naruto nodded. Why wasn't Sakura at all worried that Sasuke was asking for cake? Sasuke hated sweets.

Naruto watched as the door clicked behind Sakura. He went to turn his attention back to Sasuke, but when he looked at the bed, Sasuke was no longer sitting on it. He turned to look around, but as he turned, he found himself tumbling backwards. Sasuke had Naruto pinned to the ground, his body acting as a weight.

"Hello Naruto!" Sasuke chirped, as he bent down and licked the side of Naruto's face.

Yes, a giddy Sasuke was a very scary thing indeed.

Next Chapter: Restless Bodies

Review? Please?


	8. Chapter 8: Restless Bodies

I was thinking about doing a full naughty lemon, but then I remembered "Crap! They're still only 13 at this point!" So, instead, I give you sweet lemonade - watered down, yes, but still full of sugar and sweetness. :-D (And yes I know that the age of consent in Japan is 13, so it really isn't that unusual, but still.)

Also, for those of you who really DO want a lemon, I have written a short one-shot called "Mine" that is complete on its own, but I may decide to work on after this story is finished. So if you want a full blown lemon, check it out.

**Restless**

**Chapter 8: Restless Bodies**

Sasuke straddled the warm body beneath his own. He had impulsively pounced on Naruto, and for a minute, his vision swam, and he felt himself collapse upon Naruto.

Sasuke idly heard Naruto's concerned voice, his body feeling heavy, and his eyes refusing to open.

"Sasuke? Sasuke?" Sasuke shook his head, as if to dispel a fog. Suddenly, his body felt light, and Sasuke's head felt clearer. Sasuke's momentary state of loopiness was all but forgotten to the stoic boy.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, opening his eyes to gaze into the blue eyes below him. His torso lay across the top of Naruto's chest, and his legs were pressed snugly to the younger boy's sides. Naruto lay, looking up at Sasuke, clearly concerned for his friend. Sasuke smirked. He liked the attention he felt as Naruto looked at him like that. In a flash, Sasuke took Naruto's arms and pinned them behind his head; Naruto bucked beneath him at the unexpected movement. But Sasuke wanted this time to be different. He didn't want a quick frustrated release against his friend. He wanted things to go slower, longer. He pushed his body harder against Naruto's, preventing the blonde from bucking his hips again - for the moment.

"Sasuke!" There was a desperation in Naruto's voice this time, a desperation that enflamed Sasuke's manhood to respond to. Sasuke forced his mouth upon Naruto, a sweet moan escaping from the blond beneath him. His lips sucked and nipped at Naruto's, first sucking at the corner of Naruto's mouth, to the top lip, then to the bottom, and then to the other side. Naruto's lips were soft and smooth, the skin nice and heated. Slowly, Sasuke began to run his tongue along the bottom lip he had been sucking on, gently, reveling in the soft, silky texture of Naruto's lips.

Naruto gasped, and Sasuke began to move his position on Naruto's body, slowly snaking his way forward on him, so that his knees were pinning Naruto's arms to the floor. Sasuke's hands now freed from holding Naruto's arms, moved to the side of Naruto's face. One wound itself to the nape of Naruto's neck, his hand cupped behind Naruto's ear, gently placed between both the side and back of Naruto's head, his fingers entangled at the base of Naruto's soft hair. His other hand moved to stroke the top of Naruto's hair line, and Naruto gasped again at the gentleness of the touch. Sasuke stretched his tongue inside of Naruto's mouth, moving it slowly, tantalizingly over Naruto's. Naruto responded by flipping his own tongue upside down, matching Sasuke's motions, creating a sweet friction in their mouths.

They laid there, their tongues dancing and gliding over each other's, their warm mouths pressed firmly together, sucking and moving lips upon the other's bruised, yet moist lips.

Sasuke was the one to break the deep kiss, with a slight squishing pop as their sucking on each other stopped. Sasuke kissed Naruto's mouth gently, twice. Naruto opened his eyes, and Sasuke felt smug to see the glazed, lazy look Naruto directed at him. Naruto gave a small grin.

"Oi, teme. You should be resting, not working out," Naruto said, his usually chirping voice coming out, lower, and much huskier than Sasuke had ever remembered. Sasuke smirked. He knew how to control Naruto now - he just had to be gentle and slow. The hyperactive blond wasn't familiar with being treated gently, so he naturally wanted things to go fast and hard, as he was used to. Giving him something different left him looking bewildered, and (Sasuke liked this part the best) submissive.

"I need to burn off this excessive energy from being cooped up for so long," Sasuke murmured as he slowly removed his body from Naruto's and stood up. Naruto sighed as he stood up, turning to face Sasuke.

"Sasuke, you're doped up, and you need to rest. I don't want to do anything with you and have you regretting it later. I don't want to take advantage of you," Naruto lectured, his face getting the funny determined look on it, as his eyes closed matter of factly, crossing his arms for emphasis.

"Regretting? Taking advantage of?" Sasuke's voice was icy cold. "Do not forget with whom you are speaking, dobe. My momentary lapse of - er - silliness is nothing to concern yourself with. Don't think for a minute that I will lose to you just because of a little bit of hyperactivity on my part," Sasuke warned. Naruto frowned. He knew Sasuke was returning to himself, but he wasn't there yet. Sasuke said silliness. Sasuke would NEVER use that word under normal circumstances regarding himself. No, Sasuke still wasn't one hundred percent Sasuke yet.

"No, you're-" but what Sasuke was, Sasuke didn't want to hear it. He didn't want Naruto to think him weak. He was stronger than the dobe, damnit! To prove his point he pushed Naruto onto the hospital bed. Naruto yelped as he landed face forward onto the bed, Sasuke straddling him from behind again. Once again, Naruto found his arms pinned above his head, but this time, Naruto felt much more exposed - especially since Sasuke had managed to remove his shirt and tie his hands with hospital wrappings to the top of the bed post in record time.

"How?!" Naruto squirmed, feeling Sasuke's body resting on his back, Sasuke's hard on pressing through both Sasuke's shorts and Naruto's pants, resting firmly in the crevice between Naruto's butt cheeks.

"Youkuseiryoku no justsu, dobe," (Restraint jutsu) Naruto could hear Sasuke smirk as he said it. "Oh" was all Naruto managed to reply. It was one of the techniques he knew he should have learned in the academy. It was used to effectively restrain an enemy from their hands - but usually the enemy would be dangling from above. However, Naruto also knew that it was very easy to get out of - if he could just remember the damn counter jutsu!

"What are you going to do to me like this?" Naruto asked, all sorts of wild images floating past his mind. Sasuke leaned forward, his lips brushing the side of Naruto's cheek, gently kissing him at that sensitive spot between his ear and neck.

"Come on dobe, isn't it obvious?" Sasuke purred. Naruto gasped. Sasuke wasn't really going to do what he thought he was - was he? Realization dawned on Naruto's face. Sasuke was going to shove himself inside Naruto!

"I see you realized what I'm going to do," Sasuke chuckled, after seeing the look on Naruto's face.

"You're going to - to -" Naruto panicked, trying to remember the counter jutsu. He wasn't ready for this! "Sasuke, I'm not ready for this!" Naruto said, desperately. He wiggled his hips, trying to buck Sasuke off of him, but to no avail. Naruto desperately wracked his brain for the counter jutsu. "Get OFF, teme!"

"Don't worry, Naruto, I have some lotion to make it go nice and slick," Sasuke was almost cackling now. Sasuke slid his body off of Naruto, and walked slowly over to the counter.

Sasuke took in the sight of Naruto, stretched topless on the hospital bed, his hands tugging furiously. In the back of his mind, Sasuke realized this was rather kinky, but couldn't help but enjoy the scene in front of him, watching Naruto struggle helplessly. He grabbed a bottle of lotion off of the counter. He walked back towards the bed, and let his finger tips brush gently down the middle of Naruto's back. Naruto shuddered, at the touch. Yes, Sasuke smirked to himself, being gentle was the easiest way to control Naruto. He let his fingers trail lightly up and down Naruto's back before resting his fingers on the waistband of Naruto's pants.

"Sasuke!" Naruto hissed, and then began to wiggle as Sasuke pulled off his pants. A second later, his eyes went wide as he heard the familiar pop of a lotion cap as the smell of the lotion wafted to his nose. Sasuke dabbed the lotion right at the top of Naruto's butt crack and rubbed - upward...?

"That's right dobe. I'm going to give you a full body massage," Sasuke said, barely suppressing his chuckle. Naruto's body seemed to go limp with relief and disbelief.

"Nani?" Naruto asked in a small voice. Sasuke leaned his body against Naruto's naked back, the fabric from his shirt stick slightly to Naruto's now lotion slicked back.

"What were you thinking dobe? Or perhaps, what were you hoping? Thinking I was going to do something else?" Sasuke whispered huskily. Naruto growled, knowing now that Sasuke had been purposefully toying with him. Bad Sasuke! Bad, evil, doped up Sasuke!

"Teme!" Naruto hissed out. Sasuke did chuckle this time (evilly), and began to rub Naruto up and down his back. Naruto grumbled, but relaxed and let Sasuke's hands knead out his muscles. He started at the lower part of his back, and began to move circles with his thumbs, working out a knot that Naruto hadn't realized he had even had. Naruto moaned in his contentment, letting Sasuke's trail his hands all over his body, while his thoughts meanwhile trailed to wondering how Sasuke had known that it was easier to use lotion for anal sex, and then wondered how he even knew that.

Naruto moaned into the bed sheets as Sasuke worked his hands, massaging Naruto's shoulders and neck, then moving down his muscled torso to his hips and then to his butt cheeks. Naruto didn't flinch as his hands began to knead the somewhat softer muscles there, before moving lower to the inside of his thighs - ever so slightly teasing the younger ninja by "accidentally" brushing against his balls - and then to his sides, and down to his calves. But then his hand traveled back upward towards Naruto's hard on. Naruto gasped at the contact of the cool lotion and warm hand, as Sasuke began to slowly move his hand up and down Naruto's shaft, teasing the head every so often.

Naruto groaned deliriously as his body felt on fire. Sasuke pressed his entire body onto Naruto, so that Naruto had to lift his hips off the bed in order not to crush his manhood between the weight of his own body and Sasuke's on top of him. Sasuke moaned into Naruto's ear as Naruto lifted his hips back into Sasuke. Sasuke rested his face into the naked crevice between Naruto's neck and shoulder. He gently pressed his lips against Naruto's neck, and trailed warm kisses against his shoulders, and then down his back. Sasuke increased the pressure on Naruto's cock, but slowed his rhythm down. He could tell Naruto was enjoying the sensation, but he was tormenting him at the same time with his slow pace. Sasuke grinned as he kissed Naruto once more on the back, and then removed his hand from Naruto's hard on to his inner thighs, and then began massaging the rest of his body. Naruto growled at the obvious teasing.

"You're even more of a teme doped up then normal," Naruto muttered, but gave no further complaints as Sasuke began rubbing his back again, and then the rest of his body. However, Naruto giggled and squirmed as Sasuke began to massage his ankles and his feet.

"Stay still dobe!" Sasuke tried to command, but Naruto wouldn't stop laughing.

"Heheheheh! It -heheheheh- tickles!" Naruto tried to convey towards Sasuke, but just as Sasuke began to try and explain that if Naruto would stop moving it wouldn't tickle as much, the door to the hospital room opened. Naruto and Sasuke looked at one another frantically.

"Sasuke-kun I-" Sakura froze mid-sentence as she took in the two boys before her.

Sasuke was laying face down on the bed, his arms propped underneath his chin, his face turned slightly to the side, and his shirt riding up slightly so that Sakura could see pale skin. Naruto was standing on the side of the bed, grinning idiotically at her.

"Hi Sakura-chaaaan!" Naruto sing-songed. "Can you excuse me just one minute? I was just showing Naru- I mean Sasuke something!" Before Sakura could react, Naruto was at the door and pushing her out of it, locking it with a click.

The "Naruto" at the door vanished, revealing Sasuke in its place. The "Sasuke" on the bed vanished to reveal a still very naked Naruto.

"Quick teme! Where did you put my clothes?" Naruto hissed as he hopped off the bed. As soon as the two of them had heard the door open, Sasuke had henged into Naruto, and Naruto had henged into Sasuke. Thankfully they thought alike. It would be strange to see Naruto lying on the bed rather than Sasuke.

"On the other side of the bed. God, you know, it was only Sakura. I thought it was going to be one of the nurses. She could use a reality check that I don't like her," Sasuke said as he helped Naruto put his shirt on. He noticed with a smirk that Naruto had managed to undo the youkuseiryoku no justsu, and he wondered if Naruto had known how to release it the entire time, or just happened to think of it at the last second before Sakura had interrupted them. He rather hoped that Naruto had only pretended not to remember how to release it.

"Why don't you like Sakura?" Naruto asked innocently, zipping up his jacket. Sasuke stiffened at the question. The way Naruto had asked it, made it sound as though "I like her, why don't you?"

"Because I like you, dobe," Sasuke muttered. Naruto froze in mid-motion of straightening his collar, and his body went rigid. Sasuke felt like hitting himself. How'd he let that one slip out there?

"Me?" Naruto breathed in. Naruto didn't know what else to say to that statement. He liked Sasuke, but he also still kind of liked Sakura. Yet, he was here, doing these things with Sasuke, and definitely not with Sakura. And then, it hit Naruto. If Sasuke had wanted to, he could be doing all of the things he was doing to Naruto to Sakura if he so chose. A twang of jealousy filled him, quickly replaced by a small smirk as he realized that Sasuke had chosen him - over everyone. Naruto had a feeling that Sasuke could have had anyone he wanted to if he so chose. Something about that made Naruto's chest flutter in a way that none of their previous sexual activities had come close to doing.

"I like you too, teme," Naruto grinned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Sasuke's momentary uncertainty came and went in record time.

"That's obvious with the way you respond to me. You're also getting smarter because you realize it's futile to try and be dominant over me," Sasuke smirked.

"Teme!" Naruto drawled out angrily.

"Sasuke-kun? Naruto? Are you okay in there?" Sakura's muffled voice came from the door as they heard her try and open it. Naruto sighed and walked over to the door, unlocking it, and let Sakura in.

"Shannaro!" Sakura cursed as she whacked Naruto across the side of the head. "What did you do that for Naruto?" Sakura asked angrily, Naruto's face was a complete blank until he realized she thought that it had been him (not Sasuke henged into Naruto) that had shoved her out the door. Naruto glared at Sasuke as he sat innocently on the bed, knowing full well that the smack should have gone to him.

"Sorry..." Naruto groaned, rubbing at his throbbing head.

"Oi, Sakura, leave him alone," Sasuke said lazily. Sakura "hmphed" disapprovingly at Naruto, and then walked over to Sasuke, a bag dangling in her hand.

"Here you go, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said happily, holding out the cake. Sasuke sniffed the air.

"Sakura, that smells like ramen, not cake," Sasuke remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, there's udon in there, but I got some miso ramen for Naruto as well," Sakura grinned happily. Naruto looked shocked. Sakura had bought him ramen? A large grin split over Naruto's face.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied happily. Sasuke, for his part, "hmphed," trying hard not to be jealous. He wished that Sakura had walked in on him and Naruto – so that way she would know that Sasuke wasn't interested - and nor was Naruto. He was beginning to regret ever telling her that it was Naruto who had saved her. He had a feeling that she had started to like Naruto more - and not just in a friendly way. There was also this little voice in the back of his head, nagging him that Naruto had liked Sakura for ages. Just because Naruto had said he liked Sasuke didn't mean that he didn't like Sakura as well. After all, some of Sasuke's own "fan-girls" were also interested in Hyuuga Neji. People could like multiple people at the same time. What exactly had Naruto meant when he said that he had liked him? Was it just a passing thing? Sasuke shook his head, was he just being paranoid?

"Is there a party in here that I wasn't invited to?" Kakashi asked, as his face appeared from behind the doorframe through the wide open door.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura chirped out.

"You ARE having a party without me," Kakashi teased gently, pointing at the cake and ramen as he walked in. "How're you feeling?" He asked more seriously to Sasuke.

"Better," Sasuke said, realizing that Kakashi had been out of it even longer than he himself had.

"Ano-sa," Sasuke began hesitantly, his long stretch of misery coming back to him slowly, realizing that he had been out of it for a long time, "how long was I out for?"

"Umm...one month to learn the first and second part, another few days for traveling, another week to finish the third part, and then a few more days of traveling, umm...about a month and a half?" Naruto said thoughtfully. Sasuke had been about to ask what the heck Naruto had been babbling about learning the "first, second, and third parts" when he heard how long he had been out.

"A month and a half?!" Sasuke almost screamed. Kakashi stroked the back of his head.

"Maa, maa...that's not a long time. There are some shinobi who have been out of it for much longer, you know? My one professor at the academy was only there because he had been unconscious for four or five years. He taught for a year as he re-cooperated before going on more missions," Kakashi informed, knowingly. This did not help Sasuke at all. He had missed a month and a half of training, and here it sounded as though Naruto had learned a new technique within that time period. How had he done that with Kakashi laid up in bed? Then Sasuke remembered that when Kakashi and he had been training, Kakashi had mentioned something about Naruto training under the same tutor that the great Fourth Hokage had had. Naruto had learned some amazing abilities under the same man who had faced off and almost beaten Itachi. Naruto would be much stronger now.

Sasuke felt a pang as he remembered just exactly why he had been in the hospital. If Naruto was training underneath someone that Itachi had not been able to defeat flat out, then he was clearly learning things that could make him much stronger.

The image of Naruto facing off against Gaara popped into Sasuke's mind, and he wondered what other surprises Naruto had learned. His thoughts were brought rudely back to reality as Kakashi sat down on the bed next to him.

"Ah, we're going to have a few days of rest, okay?" Kakashi said brightly.

"But I need to train!" Naruto protested, and Sasuke silently agreed.

"You need to rest the most Naruto. From what Tsunade told me, I hear your heart stopped beating in the middle of a battle, and Tsunade had thought you had died. Of all of us, you came the closest to dying, and suffered the most internal damage - only four days ago I might add. Sasuke and I have been in here for some time. Our internal organs are quite fine, and all we need is a little time in therapy and our strength will be back in no time - one of the perks of having the sharingan," Kakashi said, his voice low and serious. Sakura and Sasuke both turned to stare at Naruto at the news of his near death experience. Naruto waved his hand as if it were nothing.

"My heart stopped for two seconds, and Tsunade-baa-chan said herself that I was fine!" Naruto gritted out.

"Yes, but she will shortly become the Godaime Hokage, and has said that you are specifically not allowed any missions for a week," Kakashi countered smugly.

"NANI?! That old hag! I'm going to go find her and tell her what I think about that!" and before anyone could stop him, he ran out of the room to find her.

"Naruto almost died? How?" Sasuke demanded, turning to look at Kakashi. Kakashi sighed.

"Tsunade kept the details to herself. She said I could read about it in the battle report once I had rested up. I'm actually not allowed duty for another week either, but I wasn't going to tell Naruto that," Kakashi said slyly.

"Do you enjoy tormenting your students?" Sasuke muttered. Kakashi shrugged.

"Who tried to kill Naruto?" Sakura asked. Kakashi went deathly still. For a minute he looked as though he wasn't going to answer, but then he seemed to get one of those "I'd rather you hear it from me than someone else" kind of looks.

"Orochimaru," Kakashi said, looking between both of his students. Sakura gasped and Sasuke allowed his mouth to hang open. His hand reflexively went to reach for the cursed seal, but he dropped it - not before Kakashi had seen the movement and given him a curious look.

"Why?" Sasuke once again demanded. Kakashi shook his head.

"I'm not sure," Kakashi answered. Sakura looked thoughtful, but Sasuke wasn't buying Kakashi's explanation. To him "I'm not sure" could equate to "I have theories, but I'm not going to tell you them" kind of answer.

"Mah! You should get some rest Sasuke, and Sakura, you might want to hit Naruto over the head and knock him unconscious so that he gets some good rest. A blow to the head shouldn't rattle him too much," With that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm going to rest now," Sasuke said, giving Sakura the hint that he wanted to be alone. He was grateful when she took the hint. She nudged the bag of food closer to him, before giving him a smile and leaving. Sasuke's slowly opened the bag, deciding he actually felt more like eating ramen now than cake. What had he been thinking to ask for sweets? He broke apart the wooden chopsticks in the bag, feeling almost as fragile as the eating utensils.

Orochimaru had tried to kill Naruto? Why? Was Orochimaru after Naruto like Itachi was? Whatever idle happiness Sasuke had felt only thirty minutes earlier had already worn off. He wished that Tsunade had been right when she had said he would be giddy for three hours. He guessed whatever type of jutsu it was, his body was trying to overcome it. Sasuke closed his eyes, willing his mind to stop thinking about Itachi and possibly Orochimaru wanting something to do with Naruto, willing his mind to stop thinking about what Naruto had meant when he said he liked him, and for once - he was able to forget his tremulous thoughts and focus on something else, namely the pleasure he had felt in being able to seemingly control Naruto

Yes, being dominant was something Sasuke enjoyed.

Next Chapter: Restless Traitors

Just so you know, I will be (briefly) discussing the small filler episodes in the anime 101-105, I believe, where team 7 tries to pull off Kakashi's mask, and the whole incident with Ibiki's little brother - but then off to the fight on top of the hospital, etc.

Please review! - Jelp


	9. Chapter 9: Restless Betrayal

AN: Yes, I am keeping as close to the anime and manga as possible. No, I will not wait until the very end of the manga/anime to finish this story. I have an ending planned out that I will use when I feel necessary. If you've noticed, there are pieces of information in here that obviously do not appear in the manga/anime. They are leading up to said ending. :-D On the other hand, the way I have the ending allows me a fairly big grace period as to where I want to end it.

Also, the part where Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura try and see what Kakashi looks like beneath his mask is based off of the anime episode (where they go to a bath house), and not the three-page manga special. Plus, getting to the bath house is the fun part. Hehe.

Just so you know, a lot of recap in this chapter, but with a special twist at the end. I wonder if anyone will be able to see it coming…Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 9: Restless Betrayal**

"Stupid Tsunade-baa-chan," Naruto grumbled as he sat on one of Konoha's roofs. He hadn't really felt like going home, and he hadn't really felt like going back to visit

Sasuke in the hospital either. He wanted to wait until Sasuke was definitely back to normal, or Sasuke normalness, before he interacted with him again. Sasuke was kinda scary other wise.

It was a rare moment for Naruto. He usually liked being with others when he had the opportunity, but for now, he just felt like being alone.

The brilliant sunset sky began to grow darker, but still Naruto didn't move from his solitary perch on the building. He laid back on the slanted roofs tiles, his feet placed firmly on the little grove between where the roof began to turn upward, forming its natural gutter. There had been some rain in the morning, so there was still a bit of water trapped in the upward lip of the roof, but not deep enough to pass the thickness of Naruto's sandals to get his feet wet. Naruto reclined onto the tiles, looking down at his reflection in the small puddle.

"Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?" Naruto chided ever so gently, as he felt the familiar presence land, and perch next to him. He waited for the other to speak, but he didn't, so Naruto decided to keep his silence as well. It was a full five minutes before the silence was broken.

"I heard that you had some interesting run ins and experiences on your trip to retrieve Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah. And shouldn't you still be in the hospital?" Naruto chided his teacher.

"Mah, mah. You already asked that. Yeah, probably, but I'll go back to the hospital in a bit. I wanted to come and talk to you. You left rather abruptly earlier today in your rush to go and chew out Tsunade-sama's ear," Naruto grumbled, indicating to Kakashi that it had not been successful. "Jiraiya-sama was most impressed with your growth." Naruto snorted.

"He was interested in the females he saw there, and not me. Hardly paid any attention to my training. I was there for training. So that's what I would do, on my own, training, training and training, but he never helped," Naruto replied sulkily.

"Hooo? He didn't help you? He probably helped you a lot more than you realize," Kakashi smiled, or at least, Naruto though he did. His eyes crinkled up happily. Naruto really hated that mask.

"Oh, he helped me realize that I should never trust him with my money, and that he's really a stingy rich bastard who likes to steal my money and use it all, and spends all of my money on women and booze!" Naruto burst out angrily. Kakashi scratched his head, looking away from Naruto, and instead focused his gaze upon the city.

"Uh, I think he forgot to mention that part," Kakashi said sheepishly. Turning more serious, he added, "But he taught you that you are capable to achieve greatness with only minimal guidance. He may not have guided you in a way that you liked – I know you prefer attention to the point where it can become a hindrance to the way you act as a shinobi. He taught you how to better control seeking that attention, didn't he?"

"I don't know about all that, though I guess he did sorta teach me some cool things," Naruto added thoughtfully. Kakashi was silent a minute.

"The attention you seek from Sasuke can be just as disruptive," Kakashi murmured, turning his full attention back to Naruto. Naruto stiffened.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto huffed, crossing his arms, and looking away defiantly, but there was an unmistakable blush on his face. "I won't let Sasuke-teme distract me in my training or during a mission, if that's what you're talking about."

"Is that so? Well, I wasn't trying to lay blame on you. But you must realize that your relationship could be dangerous to both you and Sasuke. There are people who are after you, Naruto. Think about how Sasuke feels. Here you are, someone who he cares about, with his brother after him. His brother, the man who is responsible for his family's brutal murder and his disturbing desire for revenge, wanting to go after you. Can you tell me that is not a distraction for Sasuke, if not for you?" Naruto once again looked down at the puddle by his foot.

"Of course I realize it, but that does not mean I should live in fear of someone coming after me. I can take care of myself when I need to," Naruto replied. Kakashi sighed.

"How do I say this? Naruto, I know you can take care of yourself. You've proven yourself over and over again. What I'm saying is I don't know if Sasuke will let you take care of yourself. He wants to protect you because you are someone close to him. He cannot bear the thought of you being lost to him in the same way as his family. I think part of him fears you because you are that important to him."

"Of course he fears me! I'm greater than he is!" Naruto said all of a sudden, laughing proudly. His laughter didn't last too long, and trailed off awkwardly. "Ne, do you really think Sasuke is that worried about me, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto had moved up on the shingled roof, concentrating chakra to his feet to crouch close to Kakashi. Kakashi turned to him, and gave another one of those eye wrinkling smiles.

"I do." Kakashi reached out a hand and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I guess what I'm trying to say, is make sure Sasuke knows you can take care of yourself. You know, you make a lot of people worry now that I think about it. Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, Jiraiya-sama, Iruka, Sasuke, and Sakura. And me of course."

"Nani? You just said that you knew I could take care of myself!"

"Yes, but you still worry me sometimes. Don't you think I can take of myself? And weren't you worried about me when I was in the hospital?" Naruto mumbled "yes." "See? Worry and rationality of prior knowledge of how you know someone will handle a situation differs."

"I think I get it," Naruto replied, tapping his chin in a thoughtful matter. Kakashi chuckled.

"Good," Kakashi replied, amused at Naruto's expression

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto started, not sure how he wanted to phrase the question. "Why do you think Sasuke feels so close to me? I've thought about it a lot, and I know he and I have a lot of things in common, but we're both still so different."

"Friendships are strange things. Some of the best friends only have a few things in common. Just because you are not exactly alike doesn't mean that you have nothing in common. Sometimes it's just the very few things that we have in common that draw us closer to other people. You and he are both used to being alone, and as much as neither of you likes it, that is what you are used to. So, maybe _because_ you both have few things in common, yet hold different interests is the best way for you to connect with others," Kakashi said, not knowing if he was helping Naruto or not.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, smiling.

"Plus," Kakashi said, and Naruto thought his sensei might be smirking, but it was hard to tell through that stupid mask, "he's also clearly attracted to you as displayed through your continuous pornographic games. Ja ne!" And without waiting for a response from Naruto, Kakashi vanished. Naruto stood mortified, knowing full well that yes, that HAD been a smirk. Damn mask!

* * *

Exactly one week later, Team 7 found themselves on their first mission since before the chuunin exams. It normally would have been a very long and tedious task; they had been asked to help with harvesting the rice in the nearby daimyo's fields, but with Naruto's kage bunshin no jutsu, and his eagerness and excitement at playing in the flooded rice fields, both Sakura and Sasuke hadn't really had much to do, until the daimyo's cat ran away, and they were asked to fetch it as a hundred or so Narutos splashed happily about, Kakashi idly helping the Naruto replicas one handed, the other holding his book as he read.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were tired from chasing around the wayward cat. Sasuke felt as though a tick in his eye were going off. He had had so much difficulty catching the damn thing because he had been so ready to kill it. Thankfully, Sakura hadn't mentioned anything in his lapse of ability.

Naruto, on the other hand, was bubbly and cheerful as he walked back, saying how Sakura and Sasuke should have stayed because to help with the fields because the man who they had been helping tend the fields had given both him and Kakashi-sensei some delicious food. It was then that Naruto had had a random and sudden epiphany. An evil grin twisted over his face, and he snickered. Naruto had been too busy eating to think to look, but if Kakashi ate, and if he had to put food in his mouth, then naturally Kakashi-sensei would have to...

"Oi, don't you wanna see it? Don't you think it's about time that we do?" Naruto said tauntingly to his two teammates as they returned home together, Kakashi-sensei far ahead of them now.

"What?" Sakura asked, clearly confused.

"Kakashi-sensei's face!" Naruto cackled out evilly.

"Hn. Baka. Not interested. We're done with the mission. I'm going home," Sasuke said irritated at his lack of enthusiasm for the mission. His stomach had also growled violently when Naruto mentioned food. Sasuke was hungry. But Naruto wasn't done yet.

"Could he have...fish lips?" Naruto said, watching the way that Sasuke stopped walking, his back going rigid, clearly thinking of the strange possibility. Naruto's smirk grew even wider. "Or horse teeth?" Sasuke practically swayed on the spot.

"Well, it would be like good detective work, and a way to practice our team skills outside of a normal mission," Sasuke finally gave in, glaring back at Naruto, knowing he had somehow lost that round. 'Dobe, you will be punished later...' Sasuke thought to himself.

So, Team 7 tried several different attempts at seeing Kakashi-sensei's face without the mask on. First, they had all tried trailing him separately. Then they had tried getting him to eat (since that was what had sparked Naruto's inspiration in the first place), but Ino had managed to spoil that one. Just as they had been about to see Kakashi eat, Ino had pounced on Sasuke, blocking their view. Though the reaction from Ayame and old man Teuchi made Naruto think that Kakashi-sensei probably wasn't all that bad looking. Next they had decided to try a bath house, but Sasuke and Naruto had to run for it when some bizarre things had started to happen, and not to mention Kakashi-sensei had come into the water with towels wrapped around his face so they hadn't been able to see what he looked like anyway. Both Sasuke and Naruto ran out of the hot spring, towels wrapped hastily around their waists in order to cover themselves.

It was then that Sasuke decided he would punish Naruto.

Or so he thought.

Apparently, Naruto had decided he didn't like the idea of Sasuke being in control so much last time, because just as Sasuke's hand had snaked around to pull off of Naruto's towel, four more Naruto's appeared grabbing both of Sasuke's arms, and Sasuke's legs as the real Naruto laughed from behind him.

"Bwahahaha!" His laugh was high. "You almost got me again," Naruto said, but his annoying laugh died down, as his hands slipped around Sasuke's waist, untied the towel, letting it drop to the floor. Naruto had decided to take Kakashi-sensei's advice, and show Sasuke that Naruto could take care of himself in a very reasonable manner - by taking care of Sasuke of course.

Sasuke growled at being held in such a humiliating manner, but all coherent thought was lost as he felt not one, not two, but four pairs of hands on him, massaging him in so many different ways. Each clone was doing a different limb. One clone was massaging his hand and wrist while another was massaging his right bicep. The one on his right lower side was kneading the soft area around his knees, while the Naruto on his left lower side massaged his inner thigh, ever so often alternating from "accidentally" brushing his sac and "accidentally" groping his ass. He kept going "oopsie!" whenever he did so. Sasuke was too enthralled at being touched to put him straight. Though, not straight in the sexual orientation sense of course.

The real Naruto finally moved in closer, pressing himself against Sasuke's back side (Sasuke cursing the presence of Naruto's towel the entire time), and wrapped his hands around Sasuke's front side, taking in his length in both of his hands, slowly beginning to stroke him, then getting faster and faster.

"Mah, mah. You know, you didn't have to use trying to treat me to a bath house if this was really what you wanted to do here," Kakashi said amused, as he quickly turned away from the intimate scene in front of him. Sasuke and Naruto both wanted to die. All of Naruto's clones disappeared, and Sasuke scrambled to cover himself in a towel.

"Er, Kakashi-sensei-" Naruto began, but then stopped. How to explain this? Kakashi just shook his head, and waved a hand as to dismiss it.

"Just clean up - or finish up - and we'll get going," Kakashi said as he exited the room.

"Ow!" Naruto yelled, as Sasuke clipped him hard on the back of the head.

"Usurakatonkachi, you should have posted a guard," Sasuke said angrily, thinking if it had been anyone other than Kakashi-sensei, he may have added them to his hit list as well. He still wanted to really hurt Kakashi-sensei though. Naruto's hands had felt really good. As it was, Sasuke guessed that he and Naruto were more alike than he thought. Apparently being touched slowly was a universal good feeling for those who had spent too much time alone as a child – or maybe just plain good.

"Teme," Naruto growled lowly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Clean yourself up," Sasuke huffed at Naruto.

"Nani? You're the one leaking pre-cum!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke's only response was to throw his towel at Naruto's face.

And by the end of the day, they hadn't gotten to even see Kakashi-sensei's face.

Team 7's next mission had not been one of Sasuke's favorites. In fact, far from it. Yes, it was a bit more difficult than usual, trying to help Idate from being attacked in order for his people to gain necessary control, but it had not turned out anything like what he would have expected.

Namely, Naruto stealing the show.

It had begun when they followed Idate onto the boat during the water leg of the race he was running in order to win the rights for his people to hold control over the land. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura's job had been to help him go through the race without being attacked by outsiders. But of course, they had been attacked. The Mist-nin were far more troublesome than Sasuke had originally thought they would be. When their boat set fire, and the water clones began chasing after them was when the mission had really gone down hill for Sasuke. They had had to jump into the water, where naturally the Mist-nin would be at an advantage. Their clones had come from them at all sides, and easily managed to hold down Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Sasuke almost groaned when Naruto used his kage bunshin technique. Didn't the dobe know that the water clones would be much stronger than his in the water? That was the first thing that had irked Sasuke. Instead of Naruto's clones going after the Mist-nin's clones like Sasuke thought Naruto would do, he made them go to the bottom of the ocean floor, and use some sort of strange technique on the Mist-nin's water clones. How had Naruto been able to mold chakra into that technique? Was he a water-type user? Somehow, Sasuke didn't think so. And what was that technique that he had used?

The next thing that had bothered Sasuke was Naruto's attempt to rescue Sakura from the whirl-pool he had created in order to save them from the Mist-nin. Oh, saving Sakura, that was one thing, but attempting to give her mouth to mouth when she hadn't needed it had bothered Sasuke. It was obvious she was fine when her eyes opened ever so slightly. Sasuke had felt an inward groan as her eyes peeked open, to look at him ever so quickly, and then close again. She was trying to get him to give her mouth to mouth!

Sasuke wasn't stupid. Sakura was fine, and she was wasting time to boot. However, he noticed Naruto's blush-stained cheeks as he bent down in an attempt to perform CPR on her water prone form. He felt secretly relieved when Sakura had "woken-up" in time to slug him across the face. Sasuke had felt like doing that himself to both of them, but was glad that Sakura was showing no interest in Naruto, though he was NOT at all happy that Naruto had seemed happy about giving her mouth to mouth. Sasuke got up and left Naruto clutching his head on the beach, seething as he began to follow Idate.

Clearly Naruto still had some feelings for Sakura, and quite frankly, it pissed him off. Naruto had said that he liked him. He had said so! Had he lied? Did he like Sakura too? Did he like Sakura more? Or, a hopeful voice in the back of Sasuke's head muttered, maybe Naruto hadn't been blushing, but was rather embarrassed by the thought of kissing Sakura? Sasuke delicately took the hopeful voice and crushed it, deciding he was in too much of a foul mood to try and be hopeful at the moment.

After that, Naruto's little pep-talk to Idate had pissed him off. He knew it shouldn't have, after all, they were trying to help Idate win, but something about the way that Naruto had taken such an interest in Idate too, made Sasuke jealous. Naruto seemed to like absolutely everyone, and clearly Sasuke was of no importance to him right now.

Then, the worst of it came. Sasuke had not been able to fight against the Mist-nin responsible for causing everyone so much trouble. His chidori had barely cracked the powerful, stolen Konoha blade. Instead, he had been flung like a doll over the cliff, knocked unconscious, and had woken up to find that Naruto had been the one to defeat him with whatever new technique it was that he had developed. The Mist-nin's taunt that the rumors had been true that the weakest Uchiha had been the only one to survive the Uchiha massacre ringing in his ears.

When had Naruto gotten so strong? Naruto had been able to defeat Gaara when he, Sasuke, had not been able to. He had clearly learned a new jutsu that seemed stronger than chidori; Naruto's new technique had worked when Sasuke's hadn't. How much had he missed being in the hospital when Itachi has gone after Naruto?

Itachi's voice rang in his ears. "Why are you so weak? Why do you still lack hatefulness?"

Old questions and fears came rushing back to Sasuke. They were so distracting that he didn't even feel the light tingling sensation from his cursed seal, a tingling sensation that began to spread throughout his entire body, spreading to his mind, tainting his thoughts as questions assaulted Sasuke's psyche.

Why was Itachi after Naruto? Was it because he was going to try and kill Sasuke's most important person? What about Orochimaru? Why had he tried to kill Naruto? First he had gone after Sasuke, but maybe he wanted Naruto now that he was more powerful? Or was it because he was becoming a distraction to Sasuke? Were Orochimaru and Itachi after Naruto because he was connected to Sasuke? But no, that didn't make sense. Itachi had said that his organization was after Naruto. Itachi hadn't seemed interested in him at all. Yet what about Orochimaru? What had happened to make Naruto worthy of a powerful man personally trying to kill him? And, did Naruto know why? Why hadn't he told Sasuke that he was going to leave with that Jiraiya person? Naruto HAD to know why they were after him. Why had Naruto not confided in him? Perhaps he had chosen to confide in someone else. Naruto always seemed to get along with others, wanting their attention. Sakura. Kakashi. Hinata. Tsunade. Lee. Idate. Jiraiya.

Maybe, maybe Naruto was pushing him aside? Looking for someone stronger? No! Sasuke was stronger than Naruto. Naruto couldn't push him aside like that...

Naruto, on the other hand, saw things quite differently than Sasuke.

To Naruto, he finally felt as though he was making progress. No longer did he need Sasuke to save him, but rather they could work as a team. Sasuke had made the dent in the Mist-nin's stolen sword with his chidori, and had enabled Naruto to finish it off with his rasengan. Naruto felt good about the mission. Hadn't Kakashi-sensei said that he needed to show Sasuke that he wasn't weak? Well, he'd done that!

He hadn't bothered to tell Sasuke about his personal run ins with Orochimaru or Itachi because in doing so, he would have to reveal his deepest secret about harboring the Kyuubi. If only Naruto had confided in Sasuke, had only Sasuke asked for closure, the next 24 hours would have gone very differently.

Naruto happily bickered with Sakura as the two of them sat with their third teammate in Sasuke's hospital room, oblivious to Sasuke's inner turmoil of thoughts until Sasuke could no longer hold his pain in mentally or emotionally. He lashed out physically instead, striking the apple Sakura had been slicing for him. Naruto was on his feet in an instant, where as Sakura stared opened mouthed, looking shocked. Sasuke looked at the cut apple pieces on the floor with a sneer.

'Only weaklings cannot feed themselves,' Sasuke thought to himself, glaring at the apple pieces as though he could light them afire…hmm…he should do that later. Next, his eyes moved up.

Sasuke stared at Naruto. Naruto, his fists in a fighting stance, nearly recoiled at the deadly glower. Sasuke had never looked at him like that before, and quite frankly, Naruto didn't like it. Sasuke looked like he wanted to seriously hurt him.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke briefly looked down.

"Oi, Naruto. Fight me," Sasuke's eyes flashed to Naruto's "Now!" It was not a request, but a command. Naruto began to protest, but Sasuke merely yelled at him to shut up and fight, his Sharingan blazing.

Sasuke's body shook. Why was everyone after Naruto? Was he that strong? Was Sasuke just that weak? He needed to know. He needed to know that he was stronger than Naruto. He needed Naruto to be weak so that he could protect him. He couldn't be useless. In order to protect Naruto from the people he hated, Naruto had to need his help. Sasuke needed Naruto to need him. Ever since they had first started their rivalry, something had flared within Sasuke. It was now that he finally understood the feeling.

There was doubt in the back of his mind that Sasuke could defeat Itachi, but until now, there had been no true doubt that when push came to shove, he could protect Naruto. As long as he could do that, as long as he was stronger than Naruto, then he was needed. Hadn't that always been the case in the beginning? Hadn't Sasuke always been the one to save Naruto? Hadn't he saved him as he went over the waterfall when doing that stupid D-rank mission? Hadn't Sasuke been the one to come and save him when he was overwhelmed with his other tasks? Hadn't he protected Naruto with his life against Haku?

When had all that changed? When had he become the weakling? No, he needed to make sure that Naruto was weaker. As long as Naruto was weaker, Sasuke was still needed. As long as Naruto was weaker, Sasuke still had a purpose...for living.

A grin began to spread on Naruto's face. Funny thing was, his thoughts almost mirrored Sasuke's. 'If I'm stronger,' Naruto mused to himself 'then Sasuke has to admit that he needs me.'

"Naruto, tell Sasuke to stop!" Sakura said, breaking both of the boys' thoughts away from their inner musings. Neither bothered to look at her. Instead, both boys glared at the other, knowing that this would be a different type of fight than before. The atmosphere was different, and there were no sexual pleasures involved.

This was full out superiority.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the Hidden Village of Sound..._

"I have activated Sasuke's seal," Orochimaru instructed the four Sound-nin in front of him. "His mentality will become unstable, and he will begin to lust after the power that I have to offer. Retrieve him," The four Sound-nin grinned maliciously, and vanished to do their master's bidding.

* * *

_Back on Top of Konoha's Hospital..._

Kakashi had decided to visit Sasuke in the hospital. He had just come back from a solo S-class mission, while the rest of his team had been away, only to find that Sasuke was back in the hospital. He hadn't even had to bother trying to find what room he was in, feeling the flaring chakra of two of his pupils on the roof.

Kakashi had to do a double take as he took in the scene in front of him. A fire jutsu had just been cast. Kakashi could smell the burnt tinge sizzling on the roof, clearly Sasuke's technique, and loud popping noises, most likely Naruto's kage-bunshin being dispelled. In the center of the roof were all three of his pupils. Sasuke and Naruto were barreling towards each other, and Sakura ran to stop them. Sasuke had his sharingan activated, a chidori chirping loudly, and Naruto had -

No, that couldn't be -

Kakashi didn't have time to finish his musings as he stepped in between the two boys, catching each by the wrist flinging them like dolls into the two water towers atop the Konoha hospital. When each of the boys' techniques hit the water tower, Kakashi saw the damage, knowing the full extent of each technique. Sasuke had his chidori powered to its maximum, and Naruto -

Naruto had formed the Rasengan.

But that had been more than 24 hours ago now.

Before leaving for another S-class mission, Kakashi had chased after Sasuke, lecturing him about using chidori so recklessly. Kakashi had been shocked at Sasuke's hurtful words, trying to irk Kakashi by saying he didn't know what it felt like to lose a loved one. That should have been the first warning sign. Sasuke had never been the best at emotionally leveling with anyone, but Kakashi should have realized Sasuke had reached a snapping point somewhere along the way. He just hadn't realized how quickly or devastating it would be. He had assumed that he would be able to deal with it when he had more time when he returned from his mission. Instead he had returned from his mission only to find that Sasuke had run off with some Sound ninjas, and Naruto and a team of shinobi had gone after him. Tsunade chided Kakashi for leaving after them, but he had bolted anyway, knowing better than anyone else the inner turmoil of both of his students.

Fear welled up inside Kakashi as he summoned his faithful dog, Pakkun, meanwhile muttering a mantra of "make it in time, make it in time" over and over again.

How could he have been so foolish to ignore the tell-tale warning signs?

Sasuke had powered his chidori with enough force to kill Naruto on top of the Konoha hospital roof. If Sasuke was trying to kill Naruto, that meant two things. First, clearly the cursed seal was out of hand. And second -

Sasuke was trying to obtain the mangekyou sharingan.

Kakashi muttered a curse as he saw the prone body of Naruto lying at the bottom of the waterfall at the Valley of the End. He landed near Naruto's body. Kakashi's breath stilled for a moment, noticing how pale and dead looking Naruto appeared, before he saw the reassuring rise and fall of Naruto's chest.

"Why did this happen?" Pakkun whispered, running over to Naruto's body.

"I'm sorry for not getting here on time. Naruto, you were desperate, ne?" Kakashi murmured cajolingly to Naruto. Naruto must have been desperate in trying to save his teammate from whatever monstrous hell would await him in Orochimaru's clutches. Kakashi looked down at Naruto, who looked so young, much too young, and he placed Sasuke's hite-ai on Naruto's chest, picking Naruto up, noticing the fist sized rip in Naruto's shirt on the front, and the identical size rip on the back, as though someone had rammed their first through it. Like a chidori. Kakashi closed his eyes, knowing full well what must have happened. Sasuke had fisted a chidori to Naruto's chest, and the Kyuubi had healed the wound. Whether or not the Kyuubi's powers emerged other than in healing, Kakashi wasn't sure. He hoped desperately that Sasuke had not left Naruto with a chidori wound, hoping Naruto would bleed to death, but he had a sneaking suspicion that that was the case.

"Sasuke," Kakashi hissed, feeling an overwhelming sense of failure wash over him. He had thought things were going okay between Naruto and Sasuke. He had tried to monitor their behavior. He cared for his students; he always had. Pakkun and Kakashi traveled up to the uppermost part of the Valley, hoping to see if they could see a glimpse of Sasuke. Pakkun could no longer detect Sasuke's scent due to the rain, but there was a chance that they might still be able to see Sasuke if he happened to have been injured as well.

Naruto began to stir on Kakashi's back, but did not speak. Pakkun and Kakashi, with Naruto on his back, began to head back to Konoha in order to get Naruto's wounds healed.

Kakashi seethed inside. There were many things that he hated, but above all, he hated those who left their friends to die.

"Sasuke, you better hope that the seal was the cause of this. I thought that you truly cared about Naruto. If I find out that you left him to bleed to death, I swear I will never forgive you," Kakashi hissed to the air, a warm breeze blowing past him as they continued towards Konoha, Naruto slipping in and out of consciousness.

Kakashi hated people who left those they cared about to die. As a child, Kakashi had idolized his father, the man whom the village called White Fang. He was an elite ninja, and Kakashi learned much from him. However, during a mission, his father had sacrificed the good of the mission in order to save his teammates.

He remembered the utter ridicule his father had received afterwards, but the worst of it had been from the very teammates whose lives he had saved. Kakashi remembered the night when he had come home to find his father's lifeless body; suicide apparent. On that night, Kakashi vowed to follow nothing but rules and regulations - rules and regulations, and teammates and teamwork be damned. He would not be driven to insanity like his father.

Then, five years after his father's death, after training so dearly, he remembered the mission that had changed his life forever. He had never bothered listening to his sensei, the notable and elite ninja, the Yellow Flash of Konoha, the man destined to become the Yondaime Hokage, when he lectured him about teamwork.

It was the mission that he had learned the hard way the importance of teamwork. He had learned it from the boy he had always chided, the one whose life he could have saved if only he hadn't been so damned egotistical. The boy who he always teased for being late. Obito, the one from whom he had obtained the Sharingan. Obito's death haunted him to the point of obsession. He never developed feelings for him in the same way that Naruto and Sasuke had each other, but he was still connected to him, ever seeing through the eye of his former friend and rival. In fact, he had adopted some of Obito's habits – namely being late and his nindo that those who left their teammates to die were worse than trash.

Quite frankly, Sasuke reminded him of his former self, and Naruto reminded Kakashi of Obito - as well as the Yondaime of course.

Kakashi understood the importance of the people over the mission. It was something that Kakashi should have known, should have learn. To see Sasuke so blatantly throw away his friends and the bonds he had with them by claiming to be chasing down his brother in order to avenge what was done to his family was complete and utter hypocrisy. And family was the most important thing, whether it be by blood or the one you created.

For Kakashi, he had always assumed after the death of his father (his mother dying on a mission when he was only three years old) that he had had no other living relatives – until very recently.

He had finally gotten up the courage to read the note that his father had written to him before committing suicide. For years Kakashi had kept it, never wanting to know why his father had committed suicide. Yet when he had finally decided to take on a team of Genin, he knew he would have to remind himself why teamwork was the most important thing, and in order to do that, he would have to overcome his last battle with teamwork, and read his father's letter. He could not let his doubts cloud his judgment because he could not afford to let any more members of his team die.

What he hadn't expected to find was an even deeper secret that his father had kept hidden for years. Apparently, at only fourteen, his father had had a love affair with one of the daimyo's daughters, and gotten her pregnant. She had been forced to give the child up for adoption. His father explained in the letter that he had found his eldest son, but had never been able to tell him that he was his father. Kakashi had cried when he read the name of his brother, someone he knew had been dead for years, someone who, when he looked back on it, had reminded him of his father, in personality, ideologies, and even looks.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder where Naruto was again sleeping on his back, his wild blonde hair, the structure of his face, his smile, his vivid blue eyes – all suggested that he was Yondaime's son, just as his father's letter suggested that Kakashi was Yondaime's younger brother.

Yes, family came first, and Kakashi would make sure to protect Naruto, the boy he believed and hoped was his nephew.

Next Chapter: Restless Training

Anyone see that one coming – Yondaime being Kakashi's older half brother? If you were confused, please review and let me know what you think, and I will do my best to clear up any confusion. - Jelp


	10. Chapter 10: Restless Training

OMG! I've been trying to update this chapter for FOUR FING DAYS!!! Thanks for the random person who was able to help me figure out how to cheat the system! I was soooooo mad...please review and make me happier...ne?

FYI, for those of you who are used to seeing some of your favorite authors update on a regular basis, and they are not, it is because some of us are having problems with uploading chapters. Okay...now I'm all better...on with the chapter:

Here are Naruto's and Sasuke's reflections about the Valley of the End that some of you requested. Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 10: Restless Training **

Naruto looked down at his hands as he clenched his fists around the hospital's white bed sheet. He clenched and unclenched his hands. Slowly he brought his hand up and traced invisible lines on his throat.

The finger marks were no longer there, but he could vividly remember the way that Sasuke had grasped his throat, clamping the material of his jumpsuit tightly around his neck. Naruto remembered the way Sasuke's damp fingers had felt viselike as he attempted to choke him.

Naruto's hand moved to the right side of his chest, placing his hand where there was recently a gaping hole. It had been a terrible feeling. His mind had been numb, but his body now remembered the shock of the chidori as it pierced his body, the warmth of Sasuke's hand as it pulled out of his body, and then the air as it moved through Naruto's chest, through the gaping hole, stinging the almost fried nerves.

His entire body still tingled from the shocking feel of flames on his skin. It was as though the fire had been so hot that it had frozen his senses. Naruto reached a hand to the top of his head, feeling none of the imprints of the rocks that had cracked and pierced his skull as Sasuke had head slammed him into the ground. Finally his hand slid back to his neck, tracing the same spot where Sasuke had gripped when he had tried to choke him to death.

To death...

Sasuke had tried to kill him...

First a chidori to the chest, then by choking, next by fire jutsu, followed by a devastating blow to the head, and lastly another attempt with chidori.

Five times Sasuke had tried to kill Naruto. Five times Sasuke had failed.

But the fifth time – that was what had intrigued Naruto the most.

_"Ne, Naruto? Did you know that two top rate shinobi can read each other's minds by just one hit? Ne, Naruto? What do you think? Can you read my mind? Eh?!"_

Sasuke's echoing taunt had been nothing more than that at a time, an echoing taunt. But when Sasuke's chidori had met his rasengan, it held much more meaning than that. It had been a plea for help. Sasuke was in need of desperate help. When rasengan met chidori, Naruto HAD been able to read Sasuke's mind, and his thoughts bewildered Naruto.

There had been a strange connection between the two of them. When rasengan hit chidori, Naruto felt as though he had been transformed back to a child, along with Sasuke. He vividly remembered seeing Sasuke appear as a child; he had looked like he had before his clan had been massacred. Sasuke's eyes had changed, and seemed to show genuine happiness emitted within their depths. But the flood of images and memories after that had terrified Naruto.

Some of Sasuke's memories had swept into Naruto, and Naruto had seen fleeting images, mere glimpses of butchered bodies with the Uchiha crest on their backs. He had felt Sasuke's fear. His helplessness. And worst of all, his loneliness.

And somehow, within everything, Naruto understood that Sasuke's attempts to kill him had been a way to protect Naruto. Though how Sasuke had come to that conclusion, Naruto didn't know. What Naruto did not understand the most, was why Sasuke had then not carried through with killing Naruto. He could have. He'd had the chance, yet Sasuke had not taken it.

During the battle with Gaara, Naruto remembered Sasuke saying something about the reason that Itachi had left Sasuke alive was because the guilt Itachi had felt after killing his family had been so overwhelming that he had left Sasuke alive in order for him to become an avenger. If and when Sasuke finally killed him, it would eventually rid Itachi of his guilt. Now, Naruto wasn't really sure that Itachi would think of something like that; to him, Itachi was a cold-blooded murdering creep, but Sasuke was another matter. Perhaps - perhaps Sasuke had left Naruto alive because Sasuke would need someone to save him?

Naruto shook his head. He really hated thinking like this. It reminded him too much of his childhood, spending lonely nights awake just wondering why. Why did people hate him? Why wasn't he good enough?

Naruto hated thinking about theoretical whys, and decided to stop doing it.

"Stupid teme," Naruto said, wishing he knew why Sasuke had done what he'd done, but deciding he wouldn't think about it anymore. The only way he would know was to ask Sasuke, and the only way to ask Sasuke was to get the teme back from Orochimaru. Naruto nodded his head, making up his mind. Yes, he would be train with Jiraiya (the perverted Sannin had offered earlier that morning to do so), and would become so strong that he could beat the shit out of Sasuke, drag him back, and demand answers. Yes, that sounded good:

First, train really hard. Second, become impressively strong. Third, beat Sasuke up and show him how much stronger he was than the teme, and fourth, beat or molest Sasuke until he realized that he was an idiot, meanwhile demanding answers.

Yes, that was definitely a good plan.

Sasuke looked around the small room Orochimaru had assigned him to. Orochimaru had smirked delightedly through his heavily bandaged body, apparently having recently done a body transfer on someone, as he had smugly shown Sasuke his new "home." Sasuke had glared at Orochimaru, and at Kabuto, but Orochimaru seemed to take it in stride, leading him to this room. Kabuto seemed overly wary of him, but it didn't matter.

They had exchanged few words. The basics here were simple. Sasuke was here to train. Orochimaru would help him kill Itachi by taking over Sasuke's body. End of story.

Sasuke sat on the bed, the dim light flickering softly, making shadows dance on the walls. He knew by now that it must be afternoon, but there were no windows in a cave to indicate the actual time of day. Sasuke looked down at his hands, his hands that had been shaking ever since he had left the Valley of the End.

It was when Sasuke had seen the prone form of Naruto lying on the ground that the full results of his actions hit him. He had attempted to kill Naruto. He had used chidori for a third time and even with the aid of the cursed seal his chakra had been depleted. He was weak from chakra exhaustion, and from the full out battle he had had with Naruto. His body had moved slowly away from where his best friend lie motionless, and all Sasuke could do was numbly move towards where the cursed seal was pulling him.

The cursed seal. It buzzed in his head, making his brain ache. His head had hurt so terribly as he walked in the rain, his body exhausted, his mind in a whirl or past regrets and future hardships. Sasuke knew no matter what happened now that he would never be allowed to go back to Konoha.

The buzzing pull of the cursed seal had finally subsided upon reaching Orochimaru, and his head was finally clear. Sasuke could finally think for himself.

And he was scared shitless.

He was currently sitting in the hideout of the man that had killed Sandaime, and countless other faces, waiting for the day when his body would become the snake sannin's next step at reaching immortality. Sasuke's hands shook even more violently at the thought. If he had gotten there less than an hour earlier, Orochimaru would have had his body by now. Naruto had saved his life be fighting against him and deterring him from meeting up with Orochimaru sooner than he had.

Naruto had saved his life - and he had tried to kill him.

"God, what have I done?" Sasuke whispered, a lone tear dripping down his cheek.

OVER ONE YEAR LATER...

Naruto supported himself on his hands and knees as he coughed up blood. With one shaky movement, he wiped the blood and spittle from the corner of his mouth.

"You're getting better," Jiraiya praised.

"Heh, heh, of course I am. I better be after a year of training," Naruto laughed shakily, pushing slowly off the ground as he found his balance to stand. "Soon, I'll be able to kick that teme's ass and bring him back home."

Jiraiya frowned and sighed. It was something that he did a lot, Naruto mused. Naruto knew for a fact that Jiraiya hated when he talked about Sasuke, but Jiraiya just did not understand. Naruto knew that Sasuke needed help (and a good pounding), but he wasn't really that bad. Jiraiya equated Sasuke's leaving with the same sort of traitorous ambitions as Orochimaru had had.

Jiraiya just didn't understand Sasuke.

Hell, Naruto would be surprised if Sasuke understood himself. Of everyone, Naruto was the closest to understanding Sasuke besides, well, Sasuke. Naruto knew that he needed support more than anything else. For whatever reason, Sasuke reminded Naruto of what Neji had said to him about a caged bird. Sasuke was like a hawk that needed to hunt in order to survive. By trying to keep it chained too long, the hawk could lose its will to live and die.

Comparing Sasuke to a hawk made Naruto think back to their fight at the Valley at the End when Sasuke had literally sprouted wings. Hawks could see their prey from as far away as a mile from the earth's surface as long as the prey moved. If it remained still, the hawk could not see it. Likewise, hawks could not see those that preyed upon them until they moved. In that way, Orochimaru was like a snake, going after Sasuke, still a fledgling hawk, preying upon him before he could fully take flight.

Just as Naruto was similar to the fox that lived inside him, he didn't enjoy being contained. Naruto could understand Sasuke's desire and need to just _move_. He couldn't just sit around and do nothing while people insisted that he wait. He needed to train and become more powerful. If Sasuke began to feel the least bit useless, the least bit threatened to what was safe, he would leave. Naruto had done the same thing.

Sasuke was the hawk that needed to soar, and Naruto was the fox that needed to run around wild.

And why the hell was he comparing Sasuke and himself to animals again...? Oh, yeah, he had been thinking that Sasuke was like a hawk...how thought patterns trail off...

"Ow!" Naruto yelped as Jiriaya bashed him aside the head. "What was that for?" Naruto grumped.

"Mataku. You spaced out. I called your name three times while you were off in la la land. What's gotten into you? You've been spacing out a lot more recently," Jiriaya said, his initial scolding tone ending in one of concern. Naruto sighed. He had been spacing out a lot more recently, but couldn't figure out why. He had gotten better at focusing, he really had, oh look! a butterfly! but for some reason, he'd been getting distracted more and more. Wow, that was a really neat looking butterfly - Naruto bet that Shino would have liked it a lot.

"Gomen," Naruto muttered apologetically. "Ne, ne, Ero-sennin, why don't we have perfectly blue butterflies like that one in Konoha?" Naruto asked, looking at the butterfly.

"Sure we do. And it's not all blue Naruto. It's got flecks of pink and yellow, baka. They're as plain as day," Jiraiya said, wondering why Naruto was rambling about butterflies of all things. Naruto squinted his eyes, not seeing the pink, but faintly making out the yellow.

"I think I see the yellow, but not the pink," Naruto said, inching closer to the butterfly that had landed several feet from him. Jiraiya leaned closer towards Naruto, looking back and forth between the butterfly, and Naruto's eyes.

"You can't see the pink?" Jiraiya said slowly. Naruto shook his head, adding an emphatic "nope!" as he did so. "Hmmm..." Jiraiya mused. "Naruto, over there, tell me how many branches are lying on the ground by that tree over there!" Jiraiya demanded harshly.

"Nani? What for?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"This is important!" Jiraiya bellowed.

"Geeze," Naruto looked at the ground by the tree about thirty feet from him, and then squinted and counted.

"Three," Naruto said.

"There are sixteen Naruto," Jiraiya said.

"No there aren't!" Naruto said. "Look, I'll prove it to you!" Naruto ran over to where the branches were, only to find, to his dismay, that he had only seen three large branches, and not the many smaller branches around them.

"Well they were really small! How did you expect me to see all those?" Naruto demanded angrily. Jiraiya put his face in his hands and began to laugh, a sort of broken, ironic laugh. "What's so funny?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you're practically blind!" Jiraiya said exasperated, his respect for Naruto's abilities increased, yet wondered how anyone could have missed that.

"Am not!" Naruto said defiantly.

"How many butterflies are over on that bush?" Jiraiya asked, pointing to a bush about twenty feet away.

"What butterflies?" Naruto asked confused. Jiraiya just shook his head as he watched the three butterflies flutter about.

"Well, your eyes need to be tested when we get to the next village, and then we will _see_ who is right," Jiraiya said.

"That was a horrible joke, Ero-Sennin."

"Yo! Sorry I was late, there was a little girl who needed help selling lemonade so I-"

"Save it Kakashi," Tsunade said, effectively cutting off the jounin who had just appeared in her office. "I received this from Jiraiya. I thought you might be interested in its contents," Tsunade gritted out, handing him a letter while a slight vein throbbed in her forehead. "And don't read it my presence. Dismissed," Tsunade waved her hand at him, and Kakashi took the hint. He could tell that something had happened that had made her irritable, and Kakashi was not interested in being on the receiving end of one of her temper tantrums.

Kakashi perched on the roof outside of the Hokage tower, reading over the letter, clearly seeing why Tsunade was angry. Kakashi could clearly hear the mocking tone embedded in the letter as he read the coded words.

_Tsunade, _

_Are you a medical ninja or not? How the hell could you have missed the fact that Naruto is BLIND?! It is clear that his performance since childhood has been affected because of his inability to properly see. Why the Nine-tails has not corrected this problem, I am not sure, but once we reach the next village, I will have Naruto examined by a PROPER medical ninja who knows how to actually take care of people. Honestly, how could you not have realized Naruto's inability to properly focus on his tasks had to do with the natural distractions that come with visibility loss? You of all people should know that poor vision results in trouble focusing. _

_The Frog Hermit_

Kakashi shook his head. Jiraiya would never talk to Tsunade like that in person unless he wished to suffer severe repercussions. Kakashi sighed. Jiraiya had put the blame on Tsunade, not bothering to take credit for the fact that Jiraiya himself had not noticed this problem. Kakashi, of course, felt somewhat guilty as well. He hadn't even thought about that possibility. It made sense though. Thinking back, Naruto often squinted, and often seemed to be oblivious to certain aspects of his surroundings. That definitely impacted his ability as a ninja. The image of Naruto always standing out in the open, not bothering to hide as he attacked his enemy now made a lot more sense. Any good shinobi knew it was better to hide and watch your target. However, if Naruto were to hide, he would not only be unable to see his opponent, but his opponent would be more likely to spot him. It was actually better for Naruto to draw attention to himself in a wide area to prevent a disadvantage. Naruto never ceased to amaze Kakashi.

Still, Kakashi couldn't suppress a snicker as he imagined Naruto wearing huge glasses like Kabuto.

"Always the number one ninja at surprising people, eh Naruto?" Kakashi murmured to himself. He missed Naruto, and after his initial anger subsided, he felt that he missed Sasuke a little bit as well. He saw Sakura occasionally, but he likewise missed having her in his team.

Kakashi sighed, wondering if things would ever resemble "normalcy" again. Looking down at the letter in his hand, Kakashi had a feeling that the answer to that question was a big, fat no.

Weeks had blurred into months for Sasuke. It did not help that he had realized the foolishness of his decision. The only thing he could do now was train in order to survive. Every day he repeated to himself that this was the only option he had left. He told himself over and over again that this was what he wanted, and not what Orochimaru wanted for him. He was doing this because this was how things should be.

But he never believed himself. He knew that if he had a choice, if he could do it all over again, he would have found another way. Waiting to become Orochimaru's vessel sickened him. Let that man, that foolish, weak man use his body? There was no way that he would be a match for Itachi even in Sasuke's body. Yet Sasuke knew he couldn't leave. At the moment, he had no where else to go, and he had no way of preventing Orochimaru from controlling his mind with the cursed seal.

Besides, there was still the matter of Itachi. Itachi had to be gotten rid of once and for all. Before, Itachi had said that he did not have enough hate in him to kill, but now Sasuke knew he had plenty. Sasuke blamed his current situation on Itachi. If it had not been for his abomination of an older brother, Sasuke would still be in Konoha right now, and not waiting for the hideous snake bastard to take over his body. Sasuke would never have had any foolish ideas about killing his best friend. He'd be doing missions with Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto. And perhaps, he and Naruto would have been able to have a proper fight to decide who was dominant.

Though something about their last fight nagged in the back of Sasuke's mind. What the hell had all that powerful, red chakra been from? Naruto was hiding many secrets, and it both unsettled him and gave him peace at the same time. It unsettled him because he knew that there was something very sinister about that chakra, but it gave him peace to know that the reason that people were after Naruto was for a reason that did not involve him. Sill, he wanted to know what was going on with Naruto, and if he ever got the chance, he would find out, but Sasuke could do very little at the moment.

For now, Sasuke would train while he waited. Plans formed in his mind as he followed Orochimaru around. He began to make allies within the Sound. People began to respect him. He did not kill anyone. No one. Whenever Orochimaru forced him to train, he would knock all of his opponents unconscious. He never killed them. They respected and revered him for it. Sasuke was slowly gaining power in the form of a grudging respect and loyalty from some of the Sound nin. But by Sasuke's calculation, he still had a year and a half before he could truly do anything against Orochimaru. For now, all Sasuke could do was grit his teeth and wait.

Next chapter: Restless Eyes

For those of you who do not remember, I had mentioned in chapter 4:

_Even with old man Teuchi's help, Naruto still spent hours late at night in the bars, and even later hours doing his best to study the scrolls in the dim light by the moon in his small apartment. But then he noticed a new problem at school. Everything started to seem fuzzy. Not bad, but not perfect. Of course, Naruto just brushed it aside, and not having anyone pay attention to him long enough, never realized that Naruto had done serious damage by studying so closely those funny characters, studying in dim light, and staying late in the bars hidden – the damage was that Naruto couldn't see right. The interesting thing about how the Kyuubi healed was that the demon could only heal what was vitally necessary for its host in order for it to stay healthy. Since the eyes were not directly related to a health problem, his eyes stayed damaged. If anyone had noticed, they would be easily fixable with the right jutsu. They weren't like Kabuto's eyes where the nerves had been severely damaged, but without anyone noticing Naruto, and therefore his physical health, there was nothing Naruto could do about it._

_So, as Naruto stared up into the night sky with his blurred vision at the training grounds, not knowing that it was blurred, not knowing that it affected him as a ninja, Naruto thought about Sasuke._

Sorry, no Naruto/Sasuke interaction in this chapter, but there will be in the next chapter, and perhaps, some mild smut…? Please let me know what you think! - Jelp


	11. Chapter 11: Restless Eyes

WARNING (or happy notice for some): Graphic male/male sex scene ahead.

Also, someone expressed some confusion; I updated on 4/15, so if the beginning of this chapter seems random - go back and read Chapter 10. Enjoy, and let me know what you think! - Jelp

**Restless**

**Chapter 11: Restless Eyes**

"Well, it appears that he has central serous retinopathy as well as metamorphopsia," the medical nin declared after using chakra threads to determine Naruto's current eye status. It had taken nearly two weeks for them to find a medical nin that was impartial to treating Konoha shinobi. Thankfully, they had found someone that was somewhat in "awe" of having one of the legendary sannin's wards as a patient.

"Ano sa, ano sa? Does that mean my eyes are going to morph into something different?" Naruto asked concerned, wondering if he had some sort of mutant gene.

"Baka. Metamorphopsia is different than metamorphosis. Taku," Jiraiya muttered, though he honestly had no idea what metamorphopsia was himself. The medical ninja just chuckled.

"Central serous retinopathy means that you have a build up of fluid under the central retina area that causes you to have blurred vision as well as metamorphopsia. Metamorphopsia means that things appear distorted. Let's say you were walking down a path that is straight. To a normal person, when they see the rest of the path in the distance it will look straight. To you, straight things will probably appear to be curved. Also, things may appear to be bigger or smaller than they actually are, and some things may look closer or farther away than they really are. In other words, you have poor depth perception."

"And all this time I thought he was just a poor ninja," Jiraiya chuckled earning an indignant growl from Naruto.

"I can relieve the fluid underneath his eyes, but this has probably been here for a staggering seven to eight years, and I cannot completely repair all the damage. He will have to wear glasses in order to have the proper 20/20 eyesight, although his eyesight will improve dramatically with just the release of the fluid," the medical nin said as he tapped his chin in thought.

"Glasses? Like Kabuto-san? No way do I wanna look like that! No offense," Naruto chuckled nervously, realizing that the medical ninja that was treating him also wore very round spectacles. To his relief, the medical nin merely chuckled.

"Well, considering how terrible your eyes are, and how well you've managed to function, I think that you should be alright to go without them for certain things. There's always the option of wearing contacts, but as a shinobi, it is highly unadvised due to the nature for the contact to become fused to the eye by chakra during the simplest of ninjutsu," the medical nin advised, "but we do happen to have an array of smaller frames if you would like to take a look at a few of them." Naruto slid out of the examinees chair, grumbling about not wanting to have four eyes, and picked out a random pair. He put them on, and squinted at his reflection in the mirror the medical nin had on the wall.

"Oi, these'll do," he said, not bothering to try on any of the others. Jiraiya sighed.

"Alright, that will be $375,"

"Eh?!" Naruto squealed.

* * *

Naruto grumbled to himself as he looked at his considerably lighter froggie-chan change purse. "Stupid glasses. Stupid eyes. Everything looks the exact same anyway," Naruto mumbled, putting up his hand to shade his sensitive eyes from the bright sun. 

"The doctor said you wouldn't notice a difference until tomorrow morning, baka. Weren't you listening?" Jiraiya asked exasperated, wondering if Naruto needed to get his hearing checked too.

"I was too busy consoling my froggie-chan," Naruto grumped.

"Weirdo," Jiraiya muttered.

"I heard that," Naruto said indignantly. 'Nope, hearing's fine,' Jiraiya mused. As they walked, Jiraiya noticed a clothing shop next to a little gambling casino. He looked over at Naruto who was still stroking his frog change purse.

"I'm could use a breather. Why don't you go in here and wait for me while I have a drink eh?" Jiraiya said, pushing Naruto into the clothing shop. "You should really get something that isn't so bright orange! Oh, and wait for me in the casino afterwards if you get done before I do! Oh, and don't forget to wear your new glasses!" Jiraiya said, smirking. He didn't even wait for Naruto's indignant protest as he dodged into a nearby sake bar.

Jiraiya had three motives for this sudden sake visit. First of all, Naruto really needed something different to wear besides that blue and orange jumpsuit. It was hideous (though not quite as bad as green spandex). Second of all, Jiraiya had discovered Naruto had a secret talent for gambling. Naruto didn't even seem to realize it, but Jiraiya had noticed it when they had gone to fetch Tsunade from her travels away from Konoha. He clearly remembered trying to tell Naruto that the game the old lady tried to get him to play would just bankrupt him. Instead, Naruto had won a ton of money. Since then, when he noticed Naruto needed money (since he would never give any to him if he could help it) he would push Naruto into a gambling haven and let Naruto work his magic. Jiraiya's third reason was the most obvious; he really needed a drink.

About an hour and a half later, Jiraiya, rosy faced from drinking, was happily laughing at one of the jokes one of the young ladies seated at his side had told him when another girl came running into the bar.

"Haruka, Kenaya! Come quick! There's this HOT guy at the tables winning a TON of money!" The newest arrival said, and the two girls at his side excused themselves and ran off. Jiraiya's eye twitched. He walked (stumbled) over to the gambling area to beat up whoever it was that was winning not only all the money, but taking away his two lovely companions.

Jiraiya entered the gambling arena only to do a double take.

There, at one of the tables, sat Naruto. Only it wasn't the Naruto he was used to seeing. He looked both older and more mature. Naruto actually could have passed for a twenty year old, and he had definitely gotten something to wear that wasn't so bright orange.

Naruto wore a black turtleneck, black slacks, and a large black over coat. At the bottom of the overcoat were orange flames in a pattern that looked very familiar. 'Just like the Fourth's overcoat,' Jiraiya realized. But it was Naruto's face that made the biggest difference of all.

Jiraiya hadn't really bothered to look at the glasses Naruto had chosen, but they were thin silver frames; the lenses were small and softly rounded rather than the blaring large oval glasses Kabuto wore. They made his eyes look so much nicer. He must have been able to see a lot better with them on because his face was relaxed instead of bunched up in a squint. It was exactly that relaxed expression that had always made girls swoon over Yondaime.

Feeling a slight hint of pride at seeing that Naruto could clean-up so nicely, Jiraiya still couldn't help fight the frown on his face. There were women hanging all over Naruto. Normally this might have caused slight jealousy, however, seeing the WAY they were all huddled close to Naruto alerted Jiraiya to the danger that Naruto was surely not used to. He walked over to Naruto, tugging on his arm.

"We need to leave now," Jiraiya hissed.

"Aww, but ero-sennin-" Naruto complained half-heartedly. He took his winnings and began to leave for the exit. It was then that Naruto finally realized the dangerous situation he was in. "Ne, Ero-sennin, why are they looking at me like that?" Naruto asked, finally seeing the way the girls looked like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse.

"Move!" Jiraiya yelled, but it was too late. Before Jiraiya could save Naruto, Naruto was pounced on by a horde of fan girls, all screaming "He's mine!" Jiraiya was jolted aside as he watched a large pile of girls all tackling Naruto.

"Taku," Jiraiya muttered.

Fifteen minutes later Jiraiya and a very frazzled looking Naruto finally emerged from the gambling area after Jiraiya had pulled Naruto from the bottom of the pile.

"Why did they do that?" Naruto asked shaken.

"You were a good-looking young man winning lots of money, that's why. You have no idea how dangerous females can be when they go after those two things," Jiraiya advised. Naruto remembered Sasuke's fan club back home, and finally realized why Sasuke avoided them so much. They were _scary_.

Naruto frowned down at his new clothing.

"Maybe the orange jumpsuit isn't so bad after all," Jiraiya muttered. Naruto agreed and changed as soon as he got back to their hotel room, likewise taking off his glasses. He placed them on his bedside table, giving them a nasty look as though they were going to personally attack him too.

Naruto made a point never to wear his glasses (nor his new clothes) if he could help it. Though as the doctor had said, his eyesight improved dramatically - as did his performance as a shinobi.

* * *

ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS LATER... 

"No," Naruto replied.

"Awww, come on Naruto!" Jiraiya said, prodding Naruto in the side.

"No!" Naruto said, crossing his arms, a slight blush rising to his cheeks. "I'm not going to turn into an old pervert like you."

"But Naruto, it's your sixteenth birthday!" Jiraiya said, as though this made everything okay. But Naruto knew better. Three months after leaving Konoha, Naruto had had his fourteenth birthday, and Jiraiya had left him alone the entire day. A year later and Jiraiya had likewise ignored his fifteenth birthday. Naruto didn't understand what made his sixteenth birthday any different than the other two. He had been with Jiraiya for two years and three months now; he knew that whatever Jiraiya had planned when he asked in that particular tone of voice was NOT something Naruto wanted to involve himself in. Right now, Naruto had a feeling Jiraiya was using this as an excuse so that _he_ could go to the bar and drink.

"I said no!" Naruto gritted out.

"You're just scared because of what happened before," Jiraiya chuckled. "Scaredy-cat," Jiraiya taunted.

"I am NOT scared, and I still say NO!" Naruto yelled.

"Scaredy-cat! Scaredy-cat! Scaredy-cat! Scaredy-"

"Fine, and to prove I'm not scared, I'll wear the same thing!" Naruto finally gave in. Jiraiya merely grinned.

That was how Naruto ended up in one of Jiraiya's favorite brothels on his sixteenth birthday wearing the same outfit (modified for growth naturally) that had instigated the girls at the gambling haven to "attack" him. Naruto had immediately hid in the farthest corner of the brothel, hiding in the shadows. It wasn't that he didn't like girls (or guys for that matter), it was just he preferred to pursue _them_ rather than having them pursue _him_.

Naruto watched as Jiraiya sat laughing loudly, drinking his sake, shamelessly grabbing the breast of the woman on his right who merely giggled at the groping, buying Jiraiya another drink. Naruto sighed. He'd seen her type before. She was the smart kind. Get Jiraiya so drunk he couldn't see straight, drag him in a room, let him pass out, not have to worry about any kind of intimate activity, ruffle the covers, and insta money for tricking him! Honestly, Jiraiya got what he deserved.

"This is from the man at the counter," a woman said to him shyly, placing the sake in front of him. Naruto sighed about to tell her "no thank you" when he looked at her and found his voice die on his lips.

"Is everything okay sir?" the woman asked concerned. Naruto shook his head.

"My bad. You just reminded me of a friend," Naruto said, shaking his head. At first glance, this woman could have passed for Sasuke's female twin. Her hair was slightly longer than he remembered Sasuke's as being, but her eyes were the same, the facial structure, and even the way she held herself screamed SASUKE at him, except she had a very feminine body - though her skin was the same pale color. He turned to look at Jiraiya who gave Naruto a very obvious "thumbs-up" sign. Naruto groaned. Since he didn't dismiss her, the woman had taken that as a sign of opportunity, and sat down in the seat next to his.

"You should take your drink. It'll help you relax," the woman coaxed. Naruto looked over at Jiraiya, and decided two could play this game. Naruto took the entire sake glass and downed it in one gulp - though he ended up sputtering as the liquid burned his throat. "Are you okay?" the woman asked concerned.

"Yeah. Is there a backroom we could go to?" Naruto asked quietly, his voice raspy from the pain of the sake. The woman nodded, smiling at him. Jiraiya gave him another obvious thumbs up as Naruto dragged the woman to the back. When they reached the room, he turned around to look at the girl.

"Umm..." he started, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Nothing personal or any thing, but I really don't want to be here. I'll just give you some money and we can sit and chat so that old pervert will stop harassing me, and..." he trailed off, not know what else to say.

"You don't want to sleep with me?" the girl asked, her eyes downcast. Naruto put his hands out defensively as he panicked.

"I-I'm sure you're a nice girl and everything, it's just, um, I prefer guys! Yeah, I prefer guys. So, it's not you, it's me, really..." he finished lamely.

"What about with me?" the woman in front of him asked, though her voice had deepened, and her features began to change into a sixteen year old Sasuke. "What about with me, Naruto?" Naruto stood rooted to the floor, his mind not processing that Sasuke was standing in front of him. Naruto shook his head.

"Kai!" He commanded, forming the hand seals that should repel a genjutsu. But when Sasuke remained in front of him, Naruto cursed, and grabbed a kunai from his holster, holding it out in front of him, idly wondering if the sake had already altered his brain and he was merely imagining things.

"No, it's really me," Sasuke said, but then he vanished. Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, grasping the pressure point on his right wrist, forcing him to release the kunai which clattered to the ground. "Naruto," Sasuke whispered huskily, and Naruto could feel Sasuke's breath on his cheek.

"Sasuke," Naruto breathed, wondering if he were dreaming, or drunk because there was no way that Sasuke could have just randomly appeared on his sixteenth birthday...was there? Naruto closed his eyes as he felt Sasuke bring his hand up to his face.

"These are new..." Sasuke murmured, fingering the glasses on Naruto's face, gently sliding them off and placing them on the table in the small backroom. Sasuke kissed Naruto's temple, and trailed warm kisses down to the top of Naruto's turtleneck. He rolled the fabric down with gentle brushes of his fingers, and latched his lips on Naruto's neck, where he found a sensitive spot that made Naruto moan and arch back. Naruto laid his head back on Sasuke's shoulder as he allowed Sasuke to bite and lick at the oh so sensitive spot on his neck. Sasuke began to busy his hands with removing Naruto's black trench coat. Naruto almost whimpered as Sasuke moved away from his neck in order to remove the trench coat, quickly followed by Naruto's turtleneck.

Sasuke resumed his position on Naruto's neck, sucking hard, rewarding him with delicious moans from the blonde writhing beneath his touch. Naruto wasn't sure what to think in his haze of pleasure. Here was Sasuke, molesting him, arriving out of nowhere on his sixteenth birthday, and what was Naruto doing? Letting Sasuke molest him. He should be yelling at the teme for leaving, for trying to kill him, for being such a prick. Yet he couldn't. He still wasn't sure if this was real or not, and decided just to let it play out without any harsh word, submitting to these wonderful feelings and sensations that were making his body light on fire.

"I missed you teme," Naruto breathed out. Sasuke made a noncommittal noise as his hands trailed down Naruto's sides, sliding one of them to the button on Naruto's pants, only to be thwarted as Naruto's hand caught his. Naruto grasped Sasuke's forearm, and swung him forcibly into the nearest wall. Sasuke's breath left him with a small "oomph" as Naruto slammed his own body against Sasuke's, pressing his body firmly on the dark haired nin, his full arousal pressed hard against Sasuke's own hard on. Sasuke tried to suppress his moan, but it escaped, much to his chagrin, and he could feel Naruto smirk against his mouth as they kissed and nipped at each other's lips, mouths opening to let each other in.

Sasuke won the battle, and slid his tongue on top of Naruto's, almost wrapping his entire tongue around the younger shinobi's. He began to slide it up and down Naruto's tongue, pumping him. Naruto stilled for a moment as his mind pictured Sasuke's tongue doing the same thing to another area on his body. His lapse of activity left him open for Sasuke to flip their positions, flipping Naruto so that Sasuke was now pinning him to the wall. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hands and forced them above his head as Sasuke's tongue continued stroking Naruto's. Naruto bucked his hips against Sasuke's, grinding their arousals.

This time Sasuke did not suppress his moan, the vibrations from his moan vibrating in Naruto's mouth against his tongue. Naruto pulled away from their heated kiss, and inhaled deeply before he gently bit down into Sasuke's shoulder, and began to suck on the skin. Sasuke half nuzzled Naruto's head as their bodies began to grind faster, Sasuke forcing more of his body against Naruto's. Naruto grunted as Sasuke and he pounded hard against each other, but then hissed angrily as Sasuke abruptly pulled his body away from his. Sasuke merely smirked at Naruto before kneeling to the ground, unbuttoning Naruto's pants, allowing the blonde's soldier to stand erect underneath Sasuke's gaze.

"I bet I can make you come faster," Sasuke challenged, his eyes twinkling as he licked Naruto's shaft and then the head before wrapping his tongue around Naruto's entire length.

"Nnn! Sasuke!" Naruto moaned as Sasuke took Naruto's manhood in his mouth, slowly sucking on it as he moved his mouth back and forth, lightly dragging his teeth against the head.

Naruto felt on fire. He'd never felt anything so good as Sasuke's, warm, wet, and tight mouth wrapped around his entire penis. He gripped Sasuke's hair, forcing himself deeper. Sasuke coughed slightly, at the forceful demand, but sped up nonetheless.

"Unn...uuuuh...Sasuke!" Naruto cried, as he came in Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke moved his head back quickly, only allowing some of the cum to enter his mouth, the rest spilling down his chest right in the middle of the opened shirt he wore. It was after a haze of glorious passion and ecstasy that Naruto finally allowed himself to look at Sasuke. He wore a white opened shirt, with black pants. The opening of his shirt dripped with Naruto's own semen, sliding down his front to spill over into his belly button. Sasuke stood up slowly, smirking.

Quite frankly, Sasuke looked hot. And edible. Naruto only registered Sasuke's smirk before dropping to his own knees, roughly forcing Sasuke's pants down before licking the pre-cum on Sasuke's cock and then hastily taking Sasuke entire length to the back of his throat and nearly out again, his movements fast and hard. Sasuke gripped Naruto's shoulders, his mouth open slightly as Naruto began to suck him, though never going too hard.

"Mmmmmmm," Naruto hummed, making Sasuke's penis jerk happily inside of Naruto's mouth at the wonderful vibrations, followed by Naruto snaking his hands up and gripping both of Sasuke's butt cheeks hard, pushing himself forward onto Sasuke's cock. Sasuke came hard and fast, Naruto's name escaping Sasuke's lips as Naruto sputtered slightly at the cum, before sucking all of it as it came into his mouth.

"Ah..." Sasuke moaned out as Naruto licked him dry, his now limp member almost painfully sated as Naruto let Sasuke's penis fall out of his mouth with a wet popping noise.

"I win," Naruto grinned. Sasuke'e eyes narrowed as he realized that Naruto had made him come faster than he had made Naruto.

"Rematch," Sasuke hissed before pulling Naruto to his feet and clamping his lips upon the other ninja's, tasting some of his own essence in Naruto's mouth. Sasuke began pushing Naruto towards the bed, both of them tripping over their pants that lay tangled at their feet, pausing for a moment so they could kick the rest of their clothing off. Naruto's hands quickly tugged Sasuke's white shirt off leaving them both stark naked. Sasuke pressed his now naked body against Naruto's, both of their erections quickly bouncing back to life.

Sasuke pushed Naruto backwards so that Naruto laid sprawled on the bed, Sasuke straddling him as his hands entangled themselves within Naruto's mop of blonde hair. Sasuke began to grind against Naruto slowly, but Naruto tried picking up the pace. Naruto growled when Sasuke began going even slower. Sasuke smirked down at Naruto.

"Faster, teme," Naruto groaned.

"No," and Sasuke pulled away from him. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, before Sasuke lowered his head to Naruto's lower regions. Naruto anticipated the feeling of Sasuke's mouth on his cock again, but was startled as he felt Sasuke's tongue lick something else.

"Aaah, aaaah!" Naruto moaned, as Sasuke's tongue licked his entrance, his hand coming to wrap around Naruto's erection and pump it again slowly. The pleasure was strange as he felt Sasuke's tongue entering him, idly thinking that Sasuke was lucky that Naruto made sure to keep every part of him clean, before losing all other coherent thoughts as Sasuke's tongue began to find a wonderful rhythm of going in and out in time with Sasuke's hand movement.

Sasuke pulled his tongue out of Naruto, and began to kiss the inside of Naruto's thigh, his hand moving to gently caress Naruto's balls. Sasuke trailed kisses up Naruto's taught stomach that left Naruto's skin feeling tingly. After laying a kiss on Naruto's mouth, Sasuke repositioned himself so that his own erection lay bobbing in front of Naruto's mouth.

Naruto's eyes locked with Sasuke's as he slowly took in the other man's length, and sucked wetly, coating it with saliva. Sasuke broke their eye contact as his eyes shut with pleasure at the feeling. Pulling out of Naruto's mouth with a loud suction noise, Sasuke repositioned himself so that his head pressed against Naruto's entrance. His eyes locked with Naruto's as he eased just the tip of his head in. Before Sasuke could do anything, Naruto arched upward, causing Sasuke to slide forcefully all the way into Naruto.

"Ah!" Sasuke moaned.

"Nnn..." Naruto hissed in pain while his face contradicted the pain by contorting into pleasure at the feeling of Sasuke hitting that delicate spot inside him he'd read about in one of those Icha Icha books he stolen from Jiraiya.

Sasuke began to move in and out of Naruto, trying to go slowly, but Naruto bucked fast and hard beneath him, and Sasuke's own resolve began to melt. He decided just to let his body move on its own, not really thinking about anything, just letting the feeling of Naruto's hot tight hole make him fall from reality.

They pumped faster and harder. To an outsider, it would have looked frenzied and wild, which is exactly what it was. Years of frustration with each other were finally being battled and fought out in a violent pleasure war of body against body.

"N-Naruto!" Sasuke cried as he orgasmed for the second time that night, closely followed by Naruto who was likewise sent over the edge. Naruto felt Sasuke's warm seed enter his body, as well as his own as his spurted against his and Sasuke's stomachs. Sasuke pulled out of Naruto, panting as he leaned over him.

"Heheh, I still win," Naruto grinned as he stretched his body out to allow it to cool down from the sex. Sasuke gave a half smile.

"Not quite Naruto," Sasuke whispered, and before Naruto realized what was happening, he felt a sharp needle press into his arm. He looked over to find Sasuke holding a syringe pressed into his bicep, the greenish-blue liquid emptying from the needle and into Naruto's body as Sasuke drugged him.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked accusatorily, looking at his friend who had betrayed him yet again. His body went limp, and he only barely managed to look at Sasuke as his eyes began to flutter closed. Still, he could have sworn he saw Sasuke's lips move ever so slightly.

"Forgive me, Naruto," Sasuke whispered, as he watched Naruto's eyes flutter shut. He hovered over Naruto's limp body for half a moment before moving. He got off the bed, and then reached under it, pulling out a bag that held not only other syringes, a change of clothes, and towels. He quickly cleaned up Naruto, and then wiped down the room, leaving no trace or clue behind that he had ever been there.

As Sasuke quickly dressed, he looked down at Naruto. He hated leaving Naruto like this, but he didn't have much time. He had already been gone two days in his attempts to find the blonde. If Orochimaru found out what he was really doing on his self-assigned mission, it could ruin everything. Sasuke was extremely close to surpassing Orochimaru's power, but he would have to wait another nine months before he could chance attacking Orochimaru during he weakest point. He would have to wait until Orochimaru's current body became so weak that he would need to use the body transfer jutsu.

Even then his task would still not be complete. He would need to go after Itachi next, but that was part of why he was here in the first place. He looked over at Naruto's body which began to spasm slightly as the poison started to take effect. Sasuke watched in morbid fascination as the poison that he had so painstakingly created coursed through Naruto, evidence of the poison showing as tan skin became deathly pale.

The door of their room flung open, and an outraged Jiraiya stumbled in, pointing a finger at Sasuke.

"You-" Jiraiya began, but then promptly fell to the floor. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "My body..." Jiraiya hissed out.

"You're surprisingly trustworthy of pretty females," Sasuke said bemused. "You didn't even bother to test that drink I gave you earlier," Sasuke replied haughtily. "Still, it was nice of you to come to me. It would have been a pain trying to explain this to someone else."

"You bastard," Jiraiya gritted out, his voice barely audible.

"Indeed," Sasuke said unconcernedly. "Listen carefully," Sasuke pulled out two vials of liquid from his pouch, one purple and one black, as well as a watch that he set the timer on. "In exactly fourteen hours, and forty one minutes, you will mix these two liquids together. When mixed, they will form the antidote to the poison coursing through Naruto's veins. Pour the liquid down his throat immediately, or else he will die. Understand?"

"You insolent-"

"Do you understand? If you want Naruto to live, then tell me you understand or else I will make sure that there is someone else capable of taking care of Naruto."

"I understand, but why-" Jiraiya rasped out, his voice failing him mid sentence.

"Good, your body will be semi-functional again in about six hours, and fully operational again in twelve."

"How do I know this won't kill him?" Jiraiya asked. "It would be very convenient for you to have me force this liquid down his throat, making it look like I was the one who killed him." Sasuke shook his head.

"If I wanted him dead, I would have done so already," Sasuke murmured before placing the vials and watch beside Jiraiya. Jiraiya cursed as Sasuke transformed back into the pretty girl at the bar, walking out the door. Jiraiya tried calling for someone, but his voice was too soft.

"Damn Uchiha," Jiraiya cursed before finally laying on the floor, waiting for whatever Sasuke had poisoned him with to ware off.

* * *

Naruto woke up groggily to see that he was in a hospital bed. He tried sitting up, but he felt like a deadweight. 

"My head..." Naruto groaned.

"You're awake," Jiraiya sighed in relief.

"What happened? Last thing I remember is saying I would go to the brothel. Did we go?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya looked at Naruto, as though musing over something.

"Yeah. Taku, you can't hold your liquor kid. I guess it's really true what they say about one's body being able to handle alcohol best at twenty-one. You got alcohol poisoning," Jiraiya lied pleasantly.

"Nani?! I told you it was a bad idea for me to go!" Naruto said, his body finding enough strength to make a fist and shake it at Jiraiya.

"Ah well, maybe another time, ne?" Jiraiya smirked.

"Not with you!" Naruto yelled as Jiraiya got up and walked out of the room. He shut Naruto's door and went to find the medical nin.

"What did the reports say?" Jiraiya asked. The medical nin just shook her head.

"There was nothing that we could detect for actually being life threatening in either Naruto-san's body or in the residue of either of these vials. It is a strange concoction to say the least, but we cannot seem to recognize all of the ingredients either. It is possible that one of the unknown ingredients might react when mixed with each other, but it actually looks like some sort of mish-meshed invention in an attempt to actually build up a resistance in Naruto-san's body to many poisons. A sort of vaccine if you will," the medical nin said.

"Interesting," Jiraiya muttered, wondering what exactly Orochimaru and his apprentice were up to. He wondered who had planned this mission: Orochimaru or Sasuke?

"Keep an eye on him, see if there are any unusual changes in behaviors, sleeping and eating patterns and habits, etc. Another day of rest, and he should be ready to go," the medical nin smiled, and Jiraiya merely nodded his head, lost in thought.

* * *

"You took longer than you said you would," Orochimaru accused as Sasuke returned to their hideout. Sasuke would have loved to have said "because it took me longer than usual to shake off your annoying spy" but resisted. 

"It took longer than I thought to find a suitable partner," Sasuke said, deciding that going with the half truth couldn't hurt. Orochimaru's eyes widened in amusement as he chuckled.

"So our dear little Sasuke-kun has finally become a man? You should have told me that was what you were looking for. I have many delicacies that would be more than willing to help you with any frustration you may have," Orochimaru offered. Sasuke shook his head, suppressing a shudder. If Orochimaru took over his body, it would be his body that Orochimaru would use to play with his wretched whores.

"I prefer to find my own," Sasuke said.

"Really Sasuke-kun, you should not take light of Orchimaru's offer," Kabuto said, as he walked out from the door to Sasuke's right, lightly brushing Sasuke on the shoulder. Kabuto merely smile, but Sasuke knew what that simple brush was, and Kabuto knew he knew. It was Kabuto's way of giving him a body scan.

"Do I pass?" Sasuke muttered sarcastically. Kabuto merely grinned.

"It seems as though our dear Sasuke-kun found release several times. Your sperm count is much lower than normal," Kabuto smiled shamelessly. Sasuke blushed as Orochimaru chuckled. Sasuke always hated Kabuto's natural medical ability. He was never sure when he was bluffing or telling the truth. Either way, he rubbed Sasuke the wrong way. Sasuke turned on his heel and walked silently out of the room.

'A few more months,' Sasuke thought to himself. He would be out of here in a few more months. And after that, he would go after Itachi. Sasuke pulled out a third vial that held a milky white substance. If necessary, he would have to give this to Naruto in ten months time, but he really hoped he would not have to. It would most likely kill him if he did, but Sasuke would do what he had to. "I will kill you to protect you if I have to Naruto," Sasuke murmured, his eyes swirling red. Yes, in Sasuke's slightly deranged mind, killing Naruto meant protecting him...

Next Chapter: Restless Returns

Hope you enjoyed the smut. :-D Please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter, and well, the smut scene. Was it okay? What you expected? - Jelp

(For any of those who have read my one-shot "Mine," I have indeed decided to make it longer, and I am currently working away on it. Still, I am not sure when I will post it. I think I might finish the entire thing before posting the next chapter.)


	12. Chapter 12: Restless Returns

**NOTE:** I will finally start to pull this story away from canon.

**SPOILERS SPOILERS AND MORE SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER!**

**WARNING:** As stated in Chapter 1, there will be major SPOILERS in this chapter for manga chapters 300-311. However, since I am now mixing canon with my own ideas (not that I haven't before, but I will be changing canon) if you don't know what is canon, and what I have created, then you can still be surprised because some of it will happen, and some of it won't. Also, since I know some of you are probably watching the current anime, I have refrained from talking too much about what will happen, so there will be references to the most recent anime episodes, but nothing major, and nothing that will be happening any time soon.

For those of you who do not know, manga chapters 300-311 are (time wise) faaaaaaaar away from happening any time soon in the anime, though the beginning of the episode hints at something that occurs in those episodes. Though you probably won't get to see how it resolves until much later. Sorry for the long A/N. Please enjoy this chapter!

**Restless**

**Chapter 12: Restless Returns**

Uchiha Sasuke fingered the vial that he carried in his pocket at all times. It served as a constant reminder that he was going to one day leave the decrepit and vile man that he studied under, and finally fulfill his revenge. It had been seven months since he had last seen Naruto, and he had heard some interesting tales in regards to the blonde since then.

For one, he had heard that Naruto had fought and killed Uchiha Itachi. Orochimaru had, while smirking, told him so, and Sasuke had not been sure how to take that information. If Naruto had killed Itachi, then what was Sasuke supposed to do? But then Orochimaru had told him that that had been some time ago, and that in reality, Naruto had killed a mere replica. Had that meant that Orochimaru had thought that Itachi was dead, but wasn't going to tell Sasuke until he knew for sure? Of course not! Sasuke had thought bitterly. Orochimaru knew that if Sasuke had found out that Itachi was dead then he would leave. So, Orochimaru had waited to tell him when the rumors had turned out to be false. Still, just the thought had made Sasuke so utterly outraged. Why was Itachi still going after Naruto, and how dare Naruto take his revenge from him? How dare Itachi try and hurt Naruto? He had to continuously remind himself that it had just been a false rumor Orochimaru had used to toy with him.

Then he had heard that Naruto had killed off one of the Akatsuki members that had been after him. Sasuke idly wondered if it had been the same rumor about Naruto killing Itachi, but had found out later that it had been someone else with an unfamiliar name. Then, he had heard that that rumor was also false, and that the Akatsuki member was still alive.

Quite frankly Sasuke was beginning to doubt Orochimaru's sources. He was tired of hearing these stupid rumors, and having Orochimaru toy around with him. He was clearly taunting Sasuke, saying that he knew more about what was happening than Sasuke. So when Orochimaru told him that Kabuto was going to meet with an Akatsuki member in order to obtain better information, this piece of news still did not sit well with Sasuke either. If they were meeting up with Akatsuki, then that meant that that person had something to do with his brother. Automatically that person became lesser of a being in Sasuke's mind.

Despite Orochimaru grinning widely, and saying in that oh-so-annoying voice of his that "We will learn more about Itachi's where abouts by talking with him, Sasuke-kun," Sasuke was disinclined to believe the old snake bastard. His respect for him was truly waning, and he was having more and more difficulty pretending to be respectful. He knew that even if they did find out information about Itachi, Orochimaru was unlikely to share it with him. Sasuke had merely sneered at Orochimaru's explanation, showing him how unhappy he was with them meeting up with someone from Akatsuki. However, Orochimaru seemed disgustingly gleeful rather than put off by this development in Sasuke's behavior. Sasuke was really getting sick of being toyed around with.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, you're difficult to deal with. How about I teach you a new jutsu when Kabuto and I return this afternoon?" Orochimaru asked, half mocking though somehow also half serious in his attempt to placate Sasuke.

"Hn." Sasuke agreed, knowing there was nothing else he could say or do. So when Kabuto and Orochimaru left, he decided to go and talk with one of the few "comrades" he had in this place, trying to rid his mind of the number of rumors that had turned out to be false, hoping to hear information from a more reliable source.

Sasuke walked with a frown on his face as his hands ran over the smooth, cold stonewall of this hideout. It was under ground (as were the majority), and he felt as though he were becoming a creature of the dark. They hardly left their hideouts for more than a few hours at a time. Growing up in Konoha, Sasuke had been used to being outside, rushing from treetop-to-treetop, or rooftop-to-rooftop to get where he needed to go; not tunnel-to-tunnel. It was usually pitch black when Orochimaru left, so Sasuke had gotten in the habit of finding his way around places in the dark, using the wall to help guide him to where he needed to go.

Sasuke's hand trailed off from running along the stone as he exited the pass from his room to the larger meeting hall. He walked over towards the back of the room, pressing his hands on the wall again, this time, pressing on a stone that lit several candles in the room. A hissing sound echoed quietly in the cavern. Sasuke turned towards the sound.

"Hello Dokueki," Sasuke murmured, pressing his hand out to gently press against the stone statue of a large snake, candles dancing eerily in the slots where its eyes would go, giving off a strange glow to the room. The light, however, did not reach Dokueki's hiding spot.

"You haven't come to me in a long while," a voice hissed, as a small black snake slithered out from one of the two slits that served as the snake statue's nostrils.

"I know. I think Kabuto suspects something, though I'm not sure if Orochimaru does or not," Sasuke whispered.

"Yessss, yessss," the snake hissed, "They do suspect, but they are naive. They are not taking you seriously. They do not know how far you have really come," Dokueki explained, slithering out of the nostril onto Sasuke's outstretched arm, curling up Sasuke's hand to his upper arm to his shoulder, finally wrapping around his neck.

"Not so tight," Sasuke warned.

"But you are so warm!" Dokueki whined longingly. "It issss too cold in here. I hate these placessss." Sasuke choose to ignore her complaints, and began to tug at Dokueki's tale to try and loosen her body so that she would give him more breathing room.

"Choking me will not help," Sasuke gritted out. He knew that as a cold blooded creature, she wasn't trying to kill him but rather keep warm, but it was really annoying.

"I will bite you if you tug at me any more!" Dokueki hissed threateningly, sticking her long tongue out to tickle at his hand.

"I'm immune to your poison now," Sasuke rebuked, amused.

"Not quite. It may not kill you, but it will still make you uncomfortable for a long period of time," Dokueki reminded him.

"Yes, but then you would have no one to talk to," Sasuke almost smirked. Almost.

"You're terrible at talking anyway. It really wouldn't be too much of a losssss," Dokueki hissed in laughter. "Unlesssss you tell me more about your friend," Dokueki asked hopefully.

"Che. Fine," Sasuke sighed. She always asked to hear about his days as a child, and most of all, loved hearing stories about Naruto. So, Sasuke launched into the story about Team 7's mission to Wave Country, telling Dokueki all the details he could remember. She had heard the story many times, yet still enjoyed hearing about Naruto. Four months ago, she had asked Sasuke to retell the story of their last meeting when Sasuke had injected the anti-venom into Naruto, (which she loved hearing about since she had helped create the special anti-poison valium that Sasuke had injected into Naruto), for the umpteenth time, Sasuke had finally asked her why. She had merely chuckled and said, "Because when you talk about him, your scent changes and your body tends to heat up. I like when your body gets warmer because then it makes me warmer. You're unusually cold for a human, so I like it when your body temperature rises."

Dokueki had stuck out her tongue teasingly, and wrapped her thin body tighter around Sasuke's upper arm for emphasis. He would have declined to tell her any more stories, somehow finding her taunt that he warmed up embarrassing, but in exchange for these stories, Dokueki had secretly taught him how to use poisons and remedies, as well as keeping him up to date with any "gossip" she happened to hear while slithering by Orochimaru's room. She was too important to his plans to deny her stories. In fact, she was vital in helping him fulfill his ultimate goal of killing Itachi; it was her own venom that was stored in the vial he carried with him at all times - just in case something were to ever happen to her, he needed her venom in order to succeed, otherwise injecting that special potion into Naruto would be pointless.

"Yessss, that is one of my favorite storiessss, but you have never told me how he defeated that Haku boy. You alwayssss leave that part out," Dokueki complained after Sasuke had finished retelling their trip to Wave. Sasuke sighed.

"We've been through this. I don't know how because I was unconscious," Sasuke reminded her. Dokueki waved her tail, as to say she didn't really care.

"Then bring him to me so that I can ask him myself," Dokueki complained. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at her.

"Not possible."

"Then take me to him," Dokueki pleaded, "He soundssss far more interesting than the people here. I want to get out of thissss hideout. You should have taken me with you on your last adventure."

"That was seven months ago," Sasuke was beginning to get tired of this. He heard these same complaints from Dokueki all the time, but he had to put up with it in order to get information. "What new findings do you have for me regarding Orochimaru and Kabuto?"

"Alwayssss wanting something, but never wanting to talk," Dokueki hissed at the air angrily. "Kabuto has been working on creating a potion that will allow Orochimaru to permanently stay in the body of his choosing. It lookssss as though he may have succeeded." Sasuke was quiet for a moment.

"So, in other words, Orochimaru is planning on spending the rest of his life in my body?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"It appearssss so," Dokueki said quietly. Sasuke and Dokueki spoke for several more hours on the impact that this had on Sasuke, as well as what it meant for Dokueki. She was a snake summon, though Orochimaru had never had a particular interest in her. She was too small for combat, and she had not shown any other promising talents - at least, not to Orochimaru. Sasuke had taken it upon himself to make her his ally, and in doing so, found her quite useful and knowledgeable about venoms, medicines, and just information in general.

They had been talking for several hours when Sasuke heard footsteps echoing in the distance of the dark cavern, Dokueki silently slithered around his neck, Sasuke pulling his open front shirt tighter around himself so she would not be seen.

"You're late. Did you forget that we had training this afternoon?" Sasuke played smoothly, trying to make it sound as though he'd actually been waiting for Orochimaru. It was then that Sasuke had realized that there were three pairs of footsteps in the room, not two. He activated his sharingan to better see through the dark to get an idea about this new person. His - for it was definitely male - chakra was unfamiliar, and he couldn't see him clearly.

"I have brought a ninja from the Hidden Village of Leaf. I thought you two might be able to talk about things and be nostalgic," Orochimaru said, the mocking tone not going unnoticed by Sasuke. Sasuke just stared at the new arrival. Why was a Konoha shinobi here? Sasuke watched as the shinobi smiled, a terribly forced smile.

"Greetings my name is Sai. And you must be Uchiha Sasu-"

"Get lost," Sasuke ordered darkly. He didn't like this bastard, and he wanted him gone. Something about him rubbed him the wrong way. It also didn't help that Dokueki was slowly sliding down his back, tickling him. He literally wanted to leave as fast as possible so that Orochimaru did not notice Dokueki.

"Even when I force myself to smile, no one seems to like me. Naruto-kun didn't even really seem to care much for me either this whole mission, and he seems to like everyone," Sai said. Sasuke's blood ran cold. Naruto? Mission? "But maybe you and I will get along better."

Sasuke glared at this boy hard. Yes, he hated him. Why was this boy here if he was supposed to be on a mission with Naruto? And where was Naruto? What was Naruto doing in this area? That blonde idiot would mess things up if he came looking for him right now. He might have to kill the blonde sooner than he expected, though he wasn't sure if it was a wise idea. He hadn't waited the full ten months yet, and something might not go right if he did it too soon.

Using the sharingan, Sasuke concentrated on Sai and forced Sai's thoughts to come to the surface. Sai was knocked down, as Sasuke used the sharingan to reexamine his most recent memories. Sai's body shook at the violating contact. Sasuke had still only been practicing with this technique, and he wasn't sure if it was a good idea for him to expose this move in front of Kabuto and Orochimaru, but he had to do it. He needed to know what Sai's intentions were. Recent images and memories that were not his own quickly flooded into Sasuke's mind. Sasuke faintly heard Kabuto call out his name, but he ignored him. Sasuke scanned the images, cursing as the jutsu left him with very little information, though one vivid image of Sai being in the bath house with Naruto sending jolts of jealousy through his veins. He realized Naruto was doing well, but that was all that he had gleaned from trying to examine Sai's memories. When Sasuke released the jutsu, he was at least happy to see that he had shaken up that Sai person enough to make him fall over. Sasuke heard Orochimaru chuckle.

"It'd be a good idea not to tease Sasuke-kun too much - he's even harder to deal with than even I am," Orochimaru laughed, looking down at Sai whose body was shaking from the contact with the sharingan.

"And I don't care to deal with trash like him," Sasuke spat out angrily. He stood up slowly from where he had been sitting at the base of the stone statue. He reached his left arm behind him, getting a hold on Dokueki so that she would not fall as he stood, releasing her tail once he could feel that she had securely wrapped around his waist. "Orochimaru, it's time for my training now," Sasuke demanded, wanting to learn as much as he could from Orochimaru so that way Orochimaru had few tricks against Sasuke once he wanted to leave.

"Naruto-kun told me quite a bit about you," Sai said as he stood up, ignoring the warning Orochimaru had given him about not taunting Sasuke. Sasuke stared at Sai, loathing the boy in front of him darkly. Sai seemed unperturbed, and continued with his story. "For the last three years, it seems that all he's been doing is looking for you." Sasuke wasn't sure what to do. He knew that Orochimaru and Kabuto suspected something going on with him. He wasn't sure if they knew about Naruto or not. Obviously they knew he had been his former teammate, but this Sai was complicating things by brining him up. He was putting Naruto in more danger.

"Oh yeah," Sasuke said, trying to sound as though he had forgotten Naruto, trying to make it sound as though he hadn't thought about the blonde every day he had left, trying not imagine the way Naruto had felt as he slid into him, the way he had moaned beneath him…"I guess I do remember someone like that." Sasuke put his hand on his waist, trying to uncurl Dokueki slightly. She had tightened around him when he had begun remembering when he and Naruto had had sex, his body clearly having heated up. 'Damn snakes and their cold bloodedness!' Sasuke thought to himself, finding Dokueki's tail and lightly tugging on it through the fabric of his shirt, glad that it was dark so that the three at the other end of the hall could not see his movements. "We're going Orochimaru," Sasuke demanded, putting his hand on his hip, wanting to discard Dokueki from wrapping around his body as quietly as possible.

"Naruto-kun considers you to be like his true brother. That's what I heard from Sakura-san," Sai said. Sasuke stilled. Did this guy not get how dangerous he was treading? Naruto, like his brother? Yes, Naruto had said something along those lines during the Valley of the End, but Sasuke had most certainly never considered Naruto to be like a brother. Rival, yes. Lover, sure. Brother, hell no. Then again, Sakura had been the one to tell this guy that. Hmm, Sakura. He hadn't thought about her in a while. She must be around too if Sai mentioned her. However, Sasuke couldn't think about that right now because he needed to put Sai straight, and try and make it seem as though he didn't care about Naruto.

"As far as brother's are concerned, I only have one. And I want to kill him," with that, he teleported back to his own room. Dokueki had squeezed him even tighter while thinking about both Naruto and Itachi, his body clearly heating up for different reasons. He reached into the front of his shirt and untangled the snake from his waist.

"Nooooo! You're so warm!" Dokueki hissed, trying to wind her way around his hand. Sasuke dropped her on his bed.

"It hurts when you do that," Sasuke chided her.

"It'ssss not my fault that humans' body temperature risessss when they think about their mate! I need warmth, and it'ssss hard to find in this place," she complained.

"You can nest in my covers until I return. But do not begin peeling your skin there again!" Sasuke hissed angrily.

"One time, honestly," Dokueki complained before curling up tightly at the bottom of his bed. Sasuke turned towards the door, musing darkly to himself. Honestly, sometimes Dokueki treated him like a son, and other times, he felt like he was baby-sitting her. He really needed more human contact if he was referring to a snake as a mother like figure.

Peeking his head out of his door, Sasuke saw Orochimaru walking down the corridor towards him. Sasuke exited his room, falling in step beside Orochimaru. The snake sannin turned to look at him.

"So what do you think about your fellow Konoha shinobi?" Orochimaru asked, smirking.

"What's he doing here?" Sasuke demanded.

"Always so forceful aren't we? Well, that's an interesting story. Apparently he, and a Konoha team came acting like the Akatsuki member Kabuto and I were going to "talk to" in order to find out more information about the Akatsuki, and about our whereabouts. They were naturally surprised to find us, as we were naturally surprised to find them. And you should see Naruto-kun. His techniques have grown. It would be quite amusing to see which one of you would come off better in a fight. When push comes to shove, he's quite the demon on the battlefield," Orochimaru chuckled softly.

"I will always win against him," Sasuke murmured.

* * *

Naruto waited with bated breath outside the hideout where Sasuke was. He hadn't seen him in years (or so he thought). He felt as though he was missing some key clue about coming here, but he couldn't put his finger on what. His thoughts were in too much turmoil for him to think straight. For one, things had not developed the way that he had thought they would when he had returned to Konoha after finish his training. 

Naruto and Jiraiya had returned from his two and a half years of training. It had been wonderful to see Tsunade, Sakura, Kakashi, and some of his old friends again. Sakura and Tsunade seemed as scary as ever, though there was something different about how Kakashi treated Naruto. He wasn't sure if it was due to the fact that Sasuke was no longer there, or if Kakashi had felt bad about not helping get Sasuke sooner, but he got this strange vibe from his former teacher that Kakashi had really missed him, even more so than Sakura or Tsunade. It was kind of flattering, in a strange sort of way.

The three of them: Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto, had been sent off to help the Sand almost immediately after Naruto had returned to Konoha, and it had taken a lot longer than Naruto had expected to complete their mission within the Sand. He had hoped to be able to go out and begin looking for Sasuke right away, but due to unforeseen developments, they had had to wait. Then, they had been given a tip on how to find out where Sasuke might be. And the tip had turned out to lead them not only right to Orochimaru, but Sasuke himself.

Unfortunately, Kakashi had over done it again on their mission to Sand, overexerting himself by using the sharingan, and had not been able to come with Naruto and Sakura in order to follow the lead that could take them to Orochimaru, and then, of course, Sasuke. However, Sakura and Naruto had not been allowed to go just by themselves, and they had been placed under the direction of another jounin during Kakashi's absence. Naruto wasn't really sure what to make of Yamato-san, Kakashi's temporary replacement, but he seemed pretty decent enough, and he treated Naruto and Sakura fairly well. Yamato was alright, but they also had to have this stupid shinobi Sai (that clearly had a shove stuck up his ass) put on their team as well.

Sai did not fit in well with his other teammates. He insulted both Sakura and Naruto, but had gone too far when he had insulted Sasuke. Sakura had made sure to let him know just how er, _unpleased_, she and Naruto were with him for insulting Sasuke. Sai took the hint, and didn't do it again.

Still, the bastard had betrayed them, and went off alone with Orochimaru after a skirmish between Kabuto and Orochimaru, and the Konoha shinobi. Yamato, Sakura, and Naruto had been able to follow them and find their hideout. They had gone in to do some reconnaissance, and found Sai in one of the rooms. After talking with him, (aka tying him up) they had taken him out of the Sound base so that he wouldn't be able to help alert the Sound of their intentions. They began to question him as to why they had betrayed them.

During the time when they were interrogating Sai, something about what Sai had said had touched a nerve within Naruto. He felt bad for the guy. Apparently (after going through Sai's stuff, and piecing information together through Sai's sketch book/journal) Sai once had a close friend that had died due to an illness. Naruto felt bad that he had lost someone so dear to him, and then had been unable to reconnect with anyone else. Yamato had gone on to explain that Sai was part of a program that Konoha had tried similar to that in Mist, brainwashing him to be like a machine. According to Sai he was actually just following orders that the head of this secret program, ROOTS, had ordered him to do.

Sai's mission was to try and join Orochimaru in order to make an alliance with him and the head of ROOTS. It seemed as though there was going to be some sort of attempt at a coup in Konoha, and Naruto worried about the head of the ROOTS program going to Orochimaru in order to ask for help to over through Tsunade. To Naruto, it seemed as though Sai was acting like nothing more than a tool. It was quite possible that Sai was kind of brainwashed into not having his own identity by the head of the ROOTS program.

Naruto had felt bad for him, until he started insulting Naruto's devotion to Sasuke of course.

Naruto had talked to Sai, telling him that it didn't matter what happened, but he would take Sasuke back because of the bond that the two of them shared. Sai had looked at him wide eyed, and confused, as though he didn't understand the concept until Naruto had explained it to him. Sai seemed like he had had such a close bond with the person he called his brother. How could someone forget a bond like that so easily, even if the person had passed away?

Was that what Sasuke was going through? Was that what he was supposed to understand? Naruto knew that Sasuke had once had many people that were dear to him, ripped away forcibly by his brother. Was that the feeling of complete loneliness that Sasuke had been talking about? He saw it in the way that Sai seemed to be unable to reconnect with anyone, and it made Naruto's heart ache to know that that was probably how Sasuke felt.

Hell, now that Naruto thought about it, that was how he felt when Sasuke left. Perhaps now that he understood that, perhaps now that he could better understand what Sasuke was going through, he could convince the teme to come back with them so that he would no longer have to be alone. Naruto would help Sasuke defeat Itachi - after all, Itachi wanted him dead, so why shouldn't he help take Itachi down before Itachi got to him?

As Naruto looked at Sai, tired up against the rock of the hideout where Sasuke was, he wasn't sure what to think about anything. What if Sasuke had lost his ability to connect with people? What would Naruto do then? Naruto was about to ask Sai why he had stopped making bonds after his adopted brother had died, but was rudely interrupted by the appearance of Kabuto.

Kabuto took in the situation with his calculating mind, and realized the Sai had not betrayed them, but had been caught instead. He sliced through Sai's bonds with a kunai. Naruto was pissed.

"If you two are going to get in my way, then I'm not going to hold back!" Naruto yelled as he created a clone and began to create the rasengan. Kabuto smirked before destroying the clone.

"Pointless," Kabuto murmured.

"You don't know how this fight will end until we fight it through!" Naruto hissed angrily at Kabuto's cockiness.

"Not about that, I meant Sasuke-kun. It's pointless going after him. He is not the same Sasuke you knew. People change," Kabuto smirk grew wider - but not for long. Naruto stared in shock as Sai grabbed Kabuto from behind, making it impossible for him to perform any jutsu. Sai then proceeded to tie Kabuto up.

"Naruto, I want to see what these bonds are made of, the bonds between you and Sasuke. What you speak of having with Sasuke, I think I remember having with my own friend, and I want to try and remember that," Sai said. Naruto smiled, feeling as though somehow, if he had been able to bring Sai out from darkness, he would be able to do the same with Sasuke.

"Let's go get him so I can show you," Naruto said, grinning.

* * *

_Sasuke and Naruto were in the showers, but this time, they had remembered to turn the water on. Sasuke had pinned Naruto's arms above his head, the water pouring down on the two of them. Sasuke's mouth was on Naruto's, his erection grinding against Naruto's. They had had fun lathering each other up, their bodies slick with soap so that they're grinding was slick. It was nice, but to Sasuke, he wanted more friction. Sure being able to slide his whole body against Naruto's slick, lean, fuckable body was nice, but having just a bit of friction would be better._

_Sasuke pressed himself harder against Naruto, their bodies flush against each other, their erections grinding frantically in their desperation to be close to each other. Sasuke let go of Naruto's arms so that he could grasp the metal handle of the soap holder. His other hand reached out, trying to find some other sort of grip, but only found the uneven top of the shower tile where it merged with the wall to grip onto. It would have to be enough. Sasuke gripped the metal handled and the small ledge where tile met wall and pulled himself so that his body was even closer to Naruto's. Naruto bucked excitedly beneath him._

_"Sasuke," Naruto moaned, as Sasuke nibbled on his neck, sending jolts of pleasure through Naruto's body. Naruto ran his hands down the older nin's back, and Sasuke shuddered as Naruto's hands both tickled and pleasured his body. "Mnn...Naruto," Sasuke moaned contently into Naruto's mouth as he kissed him. Naruto's mouth felt warm as Naruto pressed his lips gently against Sasuke's, warmth coursing through his body at the hot touch, making him move harder against the blonde. Naruto sucked on Sasuke's lips, which were soft, but not too swollen, from all the teasing they had been doing to each other. Sasuke's tongued slowly licked Naruto's lower lip, and Naruto moaned, and Sasuke tilted his head to the side as he pressed his mouth firmly atop of Naruto's, his tongue sliding in and out of Naruto's mouth._

Sasuke felt the wonderful tingling sensation that started at the base of is erection beginning to build. He removed his hands from where he was using them as leverage in order to get closer to Naruto and flipped Naruto around. Naruto moaned in anticipation as Sasuke plunged deep within Naruto's entrance, Naruto's tightness pressing around him, making him feel ready to explode…

when Sasuke felt a presence enter his room, crashing his dream to a halting stop as he realized he was still in the Sound, lying on his bed after training.

"Who's there?" Sasuke demanded groggily, trying to determine who had just entered. He hated being woken up, especially in the middle of a dream like that. His body was hot and frustrated. His dream had been so delicious. Who dare wake him up? Sasuke didn't move, willing his erection to go down. He had been so close to having a lovely wet dream. Why was it that every single time he almost came to relieving his frustration someone always woke him up?

"Busted already?" The person who had awoken him spoke, and Sasuke recognized it with a great twinge of annoyance as that Sai shinobi.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, his voice dangerously low, extremely angered at having been woken up.

"I want to take you back to Konoha so that I can help Naruto protect his 'bond' with you that he is trying to mend!" Sai declared. Sasuke really wasn't sure how to take this. Bonds? He woke him up from a dream about Naruto to talk about his bond with Naruto? Was the guy a fucking nutter?

"Bonds...? You woke me up to talk about bonds?" Sasuke hissed angrily.

"He was coming with me, but we got split up looking for you and-" Sai wasn't able to finish as Sasuke's anger manifested itself in the form of deciding to blow his entire room apart.

Sasuke growled. Sai had found him instead of Naruto. If it had been Naruto, he could have relieved himself with Naruto. To be awoken to find Sai, and then finding out that it could have been Naruto...

Quite frankly, Sasuke was pissed.

Next Chapter: Restless Nights

The character Dokueki is not in the canon (aka Dokueki is an original of my creation.)

Also, due to some of the events in the manga, I have been confused in trying to figure out how long certain events have gone on. If my Math doesn't seem to add up to you, then let's just pretend it's because I'm starting to pull away from the canon. :-D

Please let me know if anything is confusing, and I will message you and try to explain it to you to the best of my ability.

Sorry I had to end it here, but I felt like I would be spoiling too much of the manga/anime, and I really don't want to do that. This chapter ending sets itself up so that way I won't give too much of the manga/anime away. Please let me know what you thought. Did I have too many spoilers? Did you like it? (The next chapter title was inspired by Ravemastaj.) - Jelp


	13. Chapter 13: Restless Nights

Reminder 1: SPOILERS

Reminder 2: I'm starting to pull away from cannon a bit.

Reminder 3: Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 13: Restless Nights**

Sasuke stood on the ground, looking down into the pit of debris and ruble, aka what remained of the underground base potion that had formerly been his room. Blowing it up might have just been a bit rash, but it had felt good blowing it to bits. He looked down at Sai's motionless form, but then saw that he was slowly stirring. Sasuke tried his best to calm himself. He was not one to kill people in cold blood (though he did enjoy beating them half to death) but right now, he felt quite ready to murder this Sai person. He could feel the comforting weight of his sword, Kusanagi, better known as the legendary Sword of the Snake, resting on his back. Sasuke was thankful that he always made sure to sleep with it next to his bed in case of emergencies. Like someone barging into his room and rudely waking him up.

Waking him up to discuss bonds. The nerve. Speaking of waking up...

Sasuke looked down at his right leg and would have sighed exasperatedly in any other situation. There, wrapped contentedly around his leg, still asleep, was Dokueki. How the blast could not have woken her up, Sasuke could only guess. Sasuke grabbed her tail irritably, unwrapping her with an almost snap-like gesture, and then prompted her to slither up his sleeve and out of sight.

"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssssssssuke!" Dokueki hissed in the most outraged voice Sasuke had ever heard her use - which was saying something. "I was sleeping so nicely! You were so nice and warm! I bet you were having another one of those sex dreamssss that alwayssss getssss you so-"

"Shut-up," Sasuke ordered sharply. It was then that Dokueki finally took in the situation at hand, realizing that she was outside of the base, and she wrapped around Sasuke's arm a little tighter as the two of them stood looking down as another figure emerged into the gaping hole. The pink haired kunoichi ran up to Sai, her face contorted in fury at the other ninja.

"Sakura huh?" Sasuke murmured. Sakura froze, as though she couldn't quite believe her ears. She turned her head to face Sasuke, and he thought he saw her mouthing his name as though in astonishment. If Sakura were here, then that meant that Naruto and Kakashi were probably not far behind. Sure enough, Naruto came skidding into the clearing from what was once the hallway that led to his blown up room. Naruto likewise looked at Sasuke as though in shock. Sasuke took a moment to look at Naruto, noticing the changes. He had grown since the last time they had met, and he was now wearing an orange and black jump suit, but he no longer wore glasses. Sasuke perched his left arm (where Dokueki was currently wrapped around) on his hip so that she could poke her head out to see what was going on without being noticeable.

"Sasuke," Sasuke could hear Naruto say as Naruto's face went blank. There was something in the way that Naruto said his name that sent shivers down Sasuke's spine.

"Naruto, huh?" Sasuke murmured back in way of greeting. At this, Dokueki tightened around his arm, clearing excited at finally seeing Naruto after all the stories Sasuke had told her about him. Sasuke stared at Naruto for what felt like at eternity, looking at his eyes, seeing how different they looked. Something about his face was harsher, but his eyes, the way they looked at him, made Sasuke feel close to someone. Naruto had always looked at him like that. Naruto saw _Sasuke_, and Naruto therefore always looked at _Sasuke_. Not at his abilities as some shinobi tool. Not at his heritage as some prestigious heir. Not at his looks like some shallow person. _At him_. Memories flashed unwanted to Sasuke's mind, memories of the mistakes that he had made when he had left Konoha. Looking into the bright eyes below him, seeing how the gaze never broke from his, made Sasuke feel as though Naruto was going over the same memories too, both analyzing Sasuke's mistakes. Sasuke felt oddly naked under his stare. It was as though Naruto had always been able to connect with him on some level. He may not have always understood him, but he had tried. Even after Sasuke insisted Naruto knew nothing about family, never having those bonds, and never having the heartache of having them severed, Naruto had at least tried to understand.

What Sai had said about bonds came crashing back to him as the memory of what Sasuke had bitterly yelled at Naruto during their heated battle at the Valley of the End resurfaced. Yes, Sasuke thought to himself, Naruto and he did share a bond. Though he hated the way that Naruto wanted to think of their relationship as being like brothers. Like hell they were. They had been much more intimate than that, though, naturally, Naruto wouldn't remember since Sasuke had drugged him afterwards. Still, looking down at Naruto, Sasuke couldn't help but feel rather possessive. Sasuke idly noticed out of the corner of his eye another figure enter the clearing. It was not Kakashi as he had expected it to be, but rather another Konoha shinobi that he was unfamiliar with. It seemed quite a bit had changed in his absence. Clearly this Sai person had replaced him, and this new guy had replaced Kakashi. Still, Sasuke kept his eyes on Naruto, ignoring the other three around him.

It was Naruto who finally broke eye contact, his head lowering slightly, and his eyes looking down, hurt.

"So why..." Naruto began, and Sasuke felt his eyes soften involuntarily at Naruto's insecure voice. Naruto continued, and with what Naruto said next, Sasuke was sure that he and Naruto were both remembering the same things, "If so, then why didn't you kill me then. Isn't that your way of breaking bonds, Sasuke?!" Sasuke remembered the way that Naruto looked as he lay near death at the Valley of the End, his eyes looking down at Naruto's face. Sasuke's chakra had been depleted then, and he had no connection to the curse seal. His head had been clear then, free from the grasp of the cursed seal for the moment.

"The reason is simple. It's not that I didn't cut those bonds," Sasuke said, shutting his eyes, feeling as though if Naruto looked at him right now, he would see through his lie. Sasuke couldn't tell Naruto what was going on at the moment. There was a chance that Orochimaru or Kabuto would overhear, and Sasuke wasn't ready to reveal his plans to those two. It wasn't time yet, "I didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me gain power by following his ways. I merely spared your life on a whim," Sasuke murmured, hoping Orochimaru was around. Naruto didn't understand what that meant, but it hadn't been for Naruto's ears. It had been for Orochimaru's benefit to make it seem as though Sasuke wouldn't hesitate to kill Naruto now.

In a flash, Sasuke jumped from his place. He stretched out his left arm, unzipped Naruto's backpack, dropped something in it, and zipped it back up again before anyone had seen what he had done.

"When did he-" Sasuke heard Sakura say.

"Come to think of it, isn't your dream to become Hokage? If you have the time to come chase after me, you should be training. Isn't that right, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his face pressing lightly against Naruto's cheek, the slight touch of feeling the gentle brush of his cheek against Naruto's sending his body reeling, remembering their last encounter together, and Sasuke couldn't help but speak gently. He had meant his words to be a taunt, a way of trying to get Naruto to realize his stupidity, though he was sure his voice had come out too husky. Sasuke was not ready for Naruto yet. Naruto was going to ruin things by being here so soon. Didn't Naruto realize that? Sasuke had yet to get completely out of Orochimaru's grasp of the cursed seal. Sasuke just couldn't leave - at least, not yet. "That's why, this time, at my whim, you will lose your life." Sasuke murmured into Naruto's ear, feeling upset that he would have to kill Naruto this soon, but feeling at a loss without any other viable choices. Sasuke pulled the sword out of its sheath, trying to give Naruto as much time to react as it slid slowly out. Yet Naruto just stood there, not trying to fight. It made Sasuke wonder if Naruto was in that much of a shock to see him again.

Remembering how docile Naruto had seemed when Sasuke had taken him the night of his sixteenth birthday made Sasuke think that yes, Naruto was in that much of a shock.

"Can someone who can't even save one of his friends become Hokage? What do you think, Sasuke?" Naruto murmured back. Sasuke made a non-committal sound before angling his sword towards Naruto's back. His arm flew towards Naruto, but it was stopped in mid movement.

There, holding his right hand, and standing pressed against Naruto's back in order to prevent Sasuke from hurting Naruto, even if it meant protecting him with his life, stood Sai. Sasuke was annoyed that Sai had gotten in the way, but it might prevent him from having to go through with his plan too soon after all.

"You're plan of action is correct," Sasuke said, looking at how Sai held his hand in such a way that would make it difficult for him to use it, and Sasuke's momentary lapse of concentration allowed Naruto to take his arm, and flip his way out Sasuke's hold.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the mystery jounin begin an attack. More people were interfering. How troublesome.

"Chidori Nagashi!" Sasuke yelled as electricity shot from his body. He stopped that attack, but the man still came at him. He tried to block Sasuke's sword with a kunai.

"You're plan of defense is quite wrong," Sasuke muttered as his sword cut through the kunai, piercing his sword into the jounin's chest, right above his heart. He sent his chidori through the sword, numbing the man's body. It would hurt, but the electricity would also fry the cells so that there would be minimal blood loss. Of course, his beloved Kusanagi sword was giving him more than just a jolt of lightening. It also held psychotropic substances drained from the venoms and poisons that Dokueki had so lovingly laced into its metal.-- "Kusanagi cannot be stopped," Sasuke told Yamato, as the jounin could do nothing but stare at Sasuke. Sasuke heard a small grunting noise, turning to see that Naruto had been knocked down by his full body chidori and was attempting to get up again. Sasuke's eyes met Naruto's, noticing with a shock that Naruto's eyes were red. Sasuke activated his sharingan and looked into those blood red eyes. 'Time to find out what your memories are, Naruto," Sasuke thought as he entered Naruto's mind. However, this felt far different than anything he'd done before, especially Sai's that had just been a few hours ago. Sasuke felt as though time had stopped...

_He was walking through some sort of corridor, and he could hear voices. One was Naruto's, and the other, far more sinister, as they talked. He heard Naruto yelling. This was far different that searching through anyone else's memories that Sasuke could recall._

_"I don't want to see your ugly muzzle anymore! I don't need your pathetic powers!" Naruto hollered. The other voice chuckled, a rolling sort of hideous laugh. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw that enormous chakra materialize into the form of a beast as Sasuke walked forward, neither Naruto nor the beast noticing. The beast seemed to be saying that Naruto was weak without him, and that he was nothing without his strength. Sasuke noticed the seal on the large gates behind the thing, noticing that it seemed to have been peeled off slightly._

_Though there was something sinister in the chakra, the shape that it had taken reminded Sasuke of something. No, it couldn't possibly be..._

_Sasuke put his hand out to touch the beast's materialized nose. It was then that they finally noticed him._

_"What are you doing here?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke looked over at Naruto. He placed his hand lightly on the top of Naruto's head. Naruto's eyes widened before they fluttered shut. Sasuke caught Naruto as he fell, and laid him down gently. Sasuke had time to enjoy the dark amusement of knocking Naruto unconscious in his own conscious before turning to face the mass of chakra before him._

_"You're Kyuubi, aren't you?" Sasuke demanded._

_"Hohoho! You must be an Uchiha to be able to see me inside Naruto," the Kyuubi demon chuckled._

_"This is quite an interesting development. Let's talk."_

* * *

Naruto woke up groggily, seeing Sasuke once again standing above him on ground level. This time Orochimaru and Kabuto were with him. They vanished before Naruto got a chance to say anything to Sasuke. 

"No!" Naruto yelled, feeling as though he had failed. "Damn it!" Naruto cried, beating the ground with his hand, sobs shaking his body as the frustration over took him. So close! They'd been so damn close! The rest of the team watched as his sobs finally subsided, his breathing coming more evenly before anyone of them dared approach him.

"Naruto, we need to leave," Yamato said quietly. Naruto sat dejectedly on the ground for a minute, seemingly oblivious to what Yamato had said. He swiped the tears from his eyes, and got up abruptly, turning in the direction of home. The rest of the team followed.

The return home to Konoha was made in silence. Naruto could see Sakura shooting worried glances his way, though she did not speak. Sai looked as contemplative as his emotionless face could, and Yamato minded his business, taking in everything, yet interfering in nothing. There were too many emotions flaring around everyone at the moment. The return pace was deliberately slow, and with each step toward Konoha, there was a feeling of dread, as though the mission would be even more of a failure once they reached Konoha and confirmed it.

It was Naruto who stopped the group and far earlier than he would have during a normal mission.

"Ne, Yamato-san? Can we spend the night here?" Naruto asked. It was a small clearing in the midst of the thick forest, and it would be good for a small campsite. He knew it would add additional travel time to their return, but Yamato knew it was better to have them get all their emotions out now rather than return to only have another mission thrust upon them that would be poorly done due to their lack of concentration. Yamato merely nodded. Naruto sat down, facing away from everyone else. Sakura made to go sit beside him, but Yamato held out a hand.

"Wait until you get back," Yamato said, and Naruto was grateful that Yamato understood his need to be alone, though he was even more grateful that Sakura had at least wanted to try and comfort him - even if that was not what he wanted at the moment. The thought still counted. Naruto took off his back pack, intent on getting out a snack, but stopped mid motion upon feeling something strange in his backpack.

"Hello Naruto." Two yellow eyes blinked curiously up at Naruto. Naruto's eyes went wide and he knocked over his bag.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Naruto hollered. Sai, Sakura, and Yamato looked over at Naruto.

"What's wrong?" Yamato asked in a sharp voice.

"There's a ghost in my backpack!" Naruto shrieked, mortified. He hated ghosts. He could deal with enemies in the height of a battle, stand his ground against a nine-tailed demon fox, but ghosts, ghosts were another matter in Naruto's mind. The rest of the team members let out a collective groan at Naruto's "finding."

"Naruto! There are not such things as ghosts!" Sakura gritted out angrily.

"Yes there are! You weren't on the mission with me when I went out with Gai-sensei's team a few years ago. There was too a ghost! And besides, if there are no ghosts, then what's that in my bag?!" Naruto demanded, inching away from it. Sakura's eye twitched. She came over, and thrust open Naruto's bag.

"There is nothing in here that looks remotely like a ghost!" Sakura sighed.

"But there were two yellow eyes and it said 'Hello Naruto' in this strange hissing voice! Honest!" Naruto said. Sakura just sighed and ruffled Naruto's hair. Even though it had been a strange outburst, and Naruto was clearly just seeing things, the mood had lightened considerably, and a sense of normalcy had almost returned to the four.

Somehow, everything was always alright as long as Naruto acted like Naruto.

"You're probably just tired. Too much chakra exhaustion. Get some sleep," Sakura said, lightly ruffling Naruto's hair again. Naruto scowled at her, muttering. Sakura walked away from Naruto even though he was still grumbling. He continued to grumble as he ate one of his nutrient bars, though he was now muttering how they needed to create a miso ramen flavored variety for shinobi. However, his grumbling stopped abruptly as he felt something slithering around his ankle. Naruto looked down slowly. The same two yellow eyes that he had mistaken for a ghost peered back at him, but he could see the black scales as what he now recognized as a snake slithering around his ankle.

"I am not a ghost, Naruto. My name is Dokueki, and I believe we have a mutual friend," Dokueki whispered quietly so that no one else but Naruto could hear her. "You're so warm!" Dokueki almost purred as she slithered from his ankle up his pant leg. Naruto froze, not knowing quite what to do.

Naruto, for his part, was in a very awkward situation. He looked around at his teammates, seeing that they were totally oblivious to his predicament.

Naruto's thoughts raced. There was a snake in his pants, and he wasn't talking about the slang term for his penis. The snake was slithering up his leg towards a very intimate part of him that he did NOT want the snake to wrap around. Clearly a talking snake meant that it was one of Orochimaru's snake summons - or one of Sasuke's. Considering that Sasuke was that snake bastard's apprentice, and Dokueki had said "mutual friend," Naruto was pretty sure that would have to be Sasuke. He was quite sure that he and Orochimaru had never been that chummy.

Naruto stood up slowly as Dokueki slithered the rest of the way up his leg. She stopped at about mid thigh, her head resting on the outer part of his leg.

"You're so much warmer than Sasuke," Dokueki hissed pleasantly, her tongue coming out and tickling Naruto's thigh, clearly content to between his warm body and his clothing, though her voice was muffled. Sasuke? Naruto thought. Naruto decided that he needed to talk to this snake, though he had a feeling it would not be a good idea to reach his hands down into his pants, or start talking to his area down there; he didn't need his team to think he was crazier than they already thought he was. Besides, he sort of wanted to hear about Sasuke before anyone else did.

"I have to go to the bathroom! I'll be right back!" Naruto said in a higher pitched voice than normal. His team members gave him a strange look as Naruto rushed off through the trees, and ran for a full five minutes, making sure no one else was around before unzipping his pants and trying to tug Dokueki off.

"Hey! Stop that!" Dokueki hissed angrily as Naruto tugged and prodded at her body.

"_Me_ stop that?! You're the one wrapped around my leg! I don't even know you! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked frantically. He knew he should have told the others, but he wasn't sure they'd appreciate him saying "there's a snake in my pants" out of the blue.

"Fine. Just no more tugssss," Dokueki complained as she loosened her body, allowing herself to slowly slide down his leg so that she lay in a tangled heap around his ankle.

"I shouldn't even be talking to you, you know!" Naruto said angrily, attempting to shake his foot to get Dokueki off, but she was completely undeterred, just wrapping herself tighter around his ankle.

"What are you doing? You really can't get me off like that," Dokueki chuckled in amusement. Naruto's body temperature was rising with his frustration. She was never able to get this much rise out of Sasuke, and she was quite enjoying herself. Though her enjoyment stopped as Naruto took out a kunai, his intentions clear. She slithered off his foot and hissed at him angrily.

"Tell me what's going on!" Naruto demanded.

"Fine fine. Can't have any fun first," Dokueki moped. "Not quite sure what'ssss going on, but Sasuke slipped me into your backpack assss soon assss he came down to greet you. The only reason for him to do that issss because he'ssss going to use my scent to track you. He'ssss done that before, the selfish prick, and without asking no lesssss. Just shoving me where ever he likessss. Doessss that to hissss own snake too. Shovessss it in, pullssss it back, takessss what he wantssss and then just leavessss," Dokueki snickered, knowing Naruto missed the sexual innuendo.

"Sasuke is tracking me?" Naruto breathed.

"Un. I know he'ssss got planssss for you. Like when he came to see you on your birthday," Dokueki said, knowing that Sasuke probably didn't want Naruto to know, but Sasuke wasn't here, and quite frankly, Dokueki didn't care.

"What do you mean, my birthday?" Naruto asked.

"On you're sixteenth birthday he came to see you. When Sasuke comessss, you should ask him to tell you what happened on your birthday. He'll be here after he can get away and find my scent," Dokueki smirked.

"He's coming for you?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing. Dokueki sighed.

"Haven't you been listening? He'ssss coming for _you_. He'ssss got planssss for you, but I don't know what all the detailssss are. He might just be coming to talk. He might be coming to kill you. Not sure. Wait till he comessss and then ask him," Dokueki said.

"Kill me? He already tried that, didn't he? Coming to finish off the job?" Naruto asked angrily.

"Now, now. It'ssss really not all that bad. Wait till he explainssss it. There will be no chance of Orochimaru over hearing what hissss planssss are out here, so he doesn't have to pretend to hate you," Dokueki explained. "I'll be able to tell when he'ssss near, and we can go out and meet him. Just don't tell anyone else."

Naruto knew it was foolish, trusting this snake. He knew it was even more foolish to risk going out see Sasuke when he might be coming to kill him. He knew it was foolish, yet he knew he was still going to do it.

* * *

Dokueki's scent was easy to track, but getting away from Orochimaru had taken some cunning. Sasuke had had to come up with the excuse that it would help confuse the Konoha shinobi if they broke off, promising to meet him at their usual rendezvous point in three days' time. Sasuke wasn't sure if that would be enough time to find the Konoha group. Sasuke was therefore pleasantly surprised to find Naruto and company had not only not returned immediately, but they were only half a day off. Then again, if Dokueki had already done her part, then maybe it was Naruto himself who was holding the group back. Sasuke remembered from their own missions what a slave driver Naruto could be when he wanted to go some where. Going out to missions had always been different from coming back. Naruto had always been excited, and usually quick to try and head out of Konoha, but had always returned home at a leisurely pace when there was nothing demanding of his time. 

For someone who claimed that he wanted to be Hokage, he seemed to enjoy a lot of time going off to be heroic rather than being in the village. Sasuke guessed that might have to do with Naruto's ideology. Naruto believed that he had to protect Konoha. He never seemed to realize as Hokage that he would have to protect Konoha from _itself_ – or rather from the people that controlled its political inner workings. 'It will be a hard lesson for the dobe if he ever becomes Hokage,' Sasuke thought dryly.

Sasuke came upon the Konoha encampment at a distance. His sharingan allowed him to move stealthily into the surrounding area, but he knew he couldn't risk going too far. His chakra levels were too large to mask for long, and his chakra signature would be only too familiar for the rest of the group. He could only wait for Dokueki. He decided to wait on the other side of the nearby creak in order to have the water help distance himself even greater from the Konoha group. The moonlight reflecting off the surface would give Sasuke a clear view of anyone that approached from the opposite bank amidst the thick trees.

Midnight had come and gone before Sasuke saw – or rather sensed – Naruto approach. Dokueki was wrapped tightly around his arm, clearly content to be with the other shinobi, the moonlight reflecting off her scales.

"I know you're there, Sasuke," Naruto spoke first. His voice carried across the tinkling sound of the creak as it flowed between them. Sasuke emerged from his hiding spot, looking across at Naruto, their eyes locking in on each other. In a flash, Sasuke was standing in front of Naruto, Sasuke's arm encircling Naruto's waist, pulling Naruto closer to him as if in a hug before teleporting them away.

Naruto looked around in surprise after teleporting, and Sasuke could tell by the look on his face that he had never learned the teleportation jutsu. Sasuke let his hands linger on Naruto's waist a bit longer than he probably should have, though Naruto seemed oblivious as he continued to look around at the now completely forested area. In truth, they were not that far from Naruto's encampment, and Sasuke wondered if Naruto could tell.

Snapping back to reality, Naruto pushed Sasuke away from him, though not too aggressively.

"What's all this about, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice deeper, and his eyes flashing in the moonlight. "Dokueki here says that you have either come to talk to me - or kill me. Well, which is it?" Sasuke's eyes flew to Dokueki, and she did he best to look innocent. Sasuke shot her a look that clearly meant that he would deal with her later. Sasuke closed his eyes briefly before explaining.

"I cannot leave Orochimaru at the moment. I-"

"Yes you can Sasuke! We can-"

"Let me finish," Sasuke said coolly. "Don't interrupt me until I am done. The cursed seal on my body is just that, a curse. It can act up at any time, and it alters my mind. Sometimes I find myself feeling crazy, though other times I feel perfectly sane. Then there are other times when I feel sane, but looking back, I know my actions were anything but..." Sasuke trailed off, but he did not elaborate, and Naruto actually waited patiently for him to finish. "Until I can find the person that is responsible for this curse, I can not undo it. Nor do I honestly want to until I have killed Itachi. I need this power in order to defeat him. Though I need your help as well," Sasuke looked at Naruto, resting his hands on either side of Naruto's shoulders.

"I'll do anything you need me to do to help," Naruto said, his eyes unwavering.

"Anything?" Sasuke asked. His voice was low, and Naruto could tell that whatever it was that Sasuke wanted him to do would not be something easy, but Naruto hadn't expected it to be.

"Anything," Naruto said. "Well, except, you know, hurt innocent people or betray my friends." Sasuke nodded, figuring as much.

"Would keeping this a secret count as betraying your friends? You can't tell Sakura or Kakashi," Sasuke said, eyeing Naruto up. Naruto smiled wryly.

"Well, wouldn't telling them about you be betraying you?" Naruto asked coyly. Sasuke allowed himself a small smirk.

"Then I need you to leave me alone until I am ready. Stop coming after me. Wait until I make my move. Then make it seem like you are going to go after me. But not until I make my move," Sasuke said.

"How will I know what your move is?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Even you aren't a big enough dobe to miss it," Sasuke insulted Naruto. Naruto frowned.

"You're still a teme, even after three years," Naruto growled before he suddenly yelped. "Stop doing that!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke was confused as what Naruto was talking about until he saw that Dokueki was snuggly wrapping herself tighter around Naruto's arm.

"She's annoying, but useful," Sasuke muttered. Dokueki chose to ignore Sasuke, content with the warmth that Naruto provided.

"She's a summons, isn't she?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. "I guess she's like Pakkun, you know, Kakashi's lead summons dog? And Rana, one of Jiraiya's frog summons. They're the kind that are useful for staying summoned for a while," Naruto mused out loud. "She isn't really that talkative. She keeps hissing out that I'm warm, and wraps around me. I think she was supposed to tell me more information than she did, but she's been too busy wrapping herself around me."

"Dokueki has a tendency to do nothing but talk unless she's warm. Consider it a blessing," Sasuke said amused.

"Not my fault that you are such a cold bastard all the time," Dokueki whined groggily. "The only time you really get heated up is when you remember what you did to Naruto-kun on his sixteenth birthday." If looks could kill, Dokueki would be dead. Oh wait, Sasuke's sharingan could kill...now how to make that work again...? Sasuke's musings of killing Dokueki with his sharingan were cut short with Naruto's next question.

"What did you do to me?" Naruto asked, clearly realizing something had indeed happened. "Is that why I was in the hospital?"

"Didn't Jiraiya tell you?" Sasuke asked, trying to shift the blame.

"No," Naruto said angrily.

"Then ask him," Sasuke shrugged, but Naruto wasn't going to stand for it. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as Naruto grabbed a fistful of Sasuke's shirt and slammed him to the ground. Naruto had Sasuke's arms pinned above his head, and put his body on to of Sasuke's, effectively pinning him to the ground.

"I'm sick and tired of everyone leaving me in the dark. Stop fucking around with me Sasuke-teme and tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Stop fucking around with you? I haven't even begun to do that." With that, Sasuke crushed his lips against Naruto's. Naruto was going to find out just how well Sasuke could fuck around…

Next Chapter: Restless Smut

--Yes, I am aware that the Japanese legend of the Kusanagi merely looks like a type of plant that produces psychotropic substances, and not actually produces them, but since the magnificent author, Masakashi Kishimoto, hasn't elaborated on the sword (and I'm not sticking as close to cannon now anyway), I'm making the sword have that kind of power.

There was a smut scene that originally took place at the end of this chapter, but it was very brief and I wanted to rewrite it. So, next chapter will be an elaboration of that smut scene. Looks like it's going to be Naruto/Sasuke, but does anyone prefer Sasuke/Naruto? Combo of both? Let me know what you think! - Jelp


	14. Chapter 14: Restless SasuNaru Smut

Since I love you all so very much, I'm giving you two chapters!

**IMPORTANT: This chapter is Sasu/Naru.**

**IMPORTANT: Next chapter is Naru/Sasu.**

Yes, I wrote you two smut chapters that are separated for those who only like one being dominant over the other. In other words, I wrote this in such a way that you can either read one or the other, or both, and the story will continue normally.

**EXPLANATION OF HOW THIS WORKS**: For those who enjoy just Sasu/Naru (Sasuke on top), read-on, and then you can just stop at the end of this chapter. For those who enjoy just Naru/Sasu (Naruto on top), proceed to the next chapter. Finally, for those who want BOTH Sasu/Naru and Naru/Sasu, you guys get two smutty chapters!!

You can read either one chapter or the other, or both (I recommend both!), and the whole story will still make sense if you want to ignore a chapter, or if you want to read both. Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 14: Restless Sasu/Naru Smut**

Naruto gasped into the kiss as he gripped Sasuke's hands harder above his head, and Sasuke took advantage of Naruto's slightly open mouth to coax Naruto's tongue into his own mouth. Naruto moaned at the sensation, the vibrations from his moan causing Sasuke's lips to tingle, as well as another tingling to begin as Sasuke felt himself growing hard as Naruto sat upon him, his body feeling so warm. Yet as Sasuke began to grind against Naruto, Naruto broke away.

"Ne, Sasuke?" Naruto asked huskily.

"Hn, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, not at all in the mood to talk.

"How do I get her off of me?" Naruto said, one eyebrow raising slowly as he nodded towards Dokueki who was still wrapped around his arm. Sasuke growled, looking at the snake who was trying (and failing) to look like she didn't exist, clearly hoping to be a part of what was going. Sasuke took a hold of Dokueki's tail, snapped it once, and with a whooshing sound, she was free of Naruto's arm. Naruto, however, did not even have time to mutter thanks before Sasuke had pushed Naruto off his body, jumped up, pressing the hand that was not holding Dokueki against Naruto's chest, and then proceeded to push Naruto up against a tree.

With both of his hands, Sasuke lifted Naruto's arms above his head, pressing them tightly together, Sasuke wanting to recreate a mixture of Naruto's birthday with the time that he had used the Youkuseiryoku no justsu to restrain Naruto while Sasuke was in the hospital, all those years ago. This time, however, he had a feeling that Naruto would be able to get out of the Youkuseiryoku no justsu, and instead decided to improvise.

"Dokueki, keep him there," Sasuke smirked, as Dokueki slithered from his hand to wrap herself around Naruto's arms and the tree trunk. Naruto watched in fascination as Dokueki seemed to grow longer and longer, her body encircling the tree and his wrists several times. Naruto barely registered that this must have been one of Dokueki's abilities before realizing that she was tying him to the tree.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Naruto asked, tugging at Dokueki, who, naturally, just tightened around Naruto's wrists with each tug, ignoring Naruto's complaints. Sasuke gripped Naruto's chin, and forced him to look at Sasuke.

"You asked _me_ to tell you what I did to you the night of your sixteenth birthday, didn't you? Well, then pay attention to _me_," Sasuke said licking his lips, "The night started off with me giving you a blow job," Sasuke said huskily, pressing his body against Naruto's, as he bit Naruto's shoulder. He encircled his hands around Naruto's back, his fingers slipping underneath the waistband of Naruto's pants and boxers. Sasuke slid his hands down slowly, running his hands down Naruto's sides, gripping Naruto's ass a few times, before sliding his boxers and pants down to his ankles.

"Sasuke, you didn't really do this, did you?" Naruto's eyes rolled back in anticipation. "How come I don't remember this?" Naruto muttered as Sasuke kneeled down in front of Naruto, placing his knees on Naruto's feet so that Naruto couldn't jerk his body.

"Of course I did, dobe. You don't remember because it was too soon. I made you forget," Sasuke said, his warm breath tickling the tip of Naruto's arousal, causing the head to twitch excitedly. Naruto felt his body heating up expectantly as Sasuke's mouth hovered above his manhood. Sasuke opened his mouth as wide as possible before engulfing Naruto as far up the shaft as he felt was possible without gagging. With a flash of his eyes, to let Naruto know he was up to no good, Sasuke brought his hands to grip Naruto's cock.

Naruto felt like he was being tortured. Sasuke's mouth was around him, but he was not really touching anything. Sasuke's mouth was open too wide, and the way that Sasuke's hands were on him made it nearly impossible for him to move his body in order to push himself deeper, or up against something. The bastard clearly knew what he was doing as he tormented Naruto, keeping his mouth wide enough so that just his breath was tingling Naruto heated flesh. Sasuke bobbed his head ever so slightly, blowing heated air onto Naruto's manhood.

"What are you doing?" Naruto demanded, breathless from the teasing. Sasuke pulled his mouth away from Naruto, and Naruto whimpered.

"Giving you a blow job. It's not called a suck job, is it?" Sasuke smirked. Naruto's eye twitched.

"You're such a sadist. I hate your sense of humor," Naruto gritted out before gasping as Sasuke's hand came up to slowly pump him, though Naruto managed a smirk. "Though I guess as this is jerking off, you're good for it, eh, jerk?" Sasuke just glared at him.

"No, you're the jerk since I'm the one getting you off," Sasuke smirked.

"Te--me--" Naruto grunted in between Sasuke's hard thrusts, his eyes shutting as he let the feeling of Sasuke's warm hand pump him. Naruto stroked Naruto, his hand griping firmly around his entire length. He started pumping slowly, and built up speed. However, Just when Naruto felt like he was going to come, Sasuke pulled his hand away. "Teme!" Naruto hissed, trying to jerk his hips forward, wanting to feel the sweetness of an orgasm, but Sasuke was too effective in holding him back.

"You see, last time we did this, we had a race as to who could suck the other off first. I think we should do that now. However," Sasuke smirked before disappearing, Naruto looked around, not seeing Sasuke, but heard his voice somewhere nearby, "I think it'll be more fun this way."

Naruto looked above him, but still didn't see Sasuke. Suddenly he felt Dokueki's grip loosen, and a deathlike grip seize his hands before he was pulled upwards. Naruto felt in a daze as he saw branches whoosh by him, Sasuke dragging him up the tree. Before Naruto knew what was going on, Sasuke was tying him down by using not just Dokueki, but what looked like two other green snakes Sasuke must have summoned. The other snakes had him snug against an entanglement of branches. Naruto's pants were still down around his ankles, and now he had thick branches pressing up against his naked lower half. He also felt semi-upside down, having been tied down with his head facing more towards the ground, yet he enjoyed the feel as gravity allowed his hardened penis to bob pleasantly downwards against his stomach.

"Sasuke, what-" Naruto asked as Sasuke appeared before Naruto, his own pants now likewise down around his ankles.

"Suck me off," Sasuke demanded, lowering his cock to Naruto's mouth, as Sasuke pressed his body 69 style against Naruto's, his mouth once again hovering over Naruto's length, causing Naruto to give an involuntary shudder at feeling Sasuke's warm breath once again. Still, Naruto managed to be defiant by cocking an eyebrow towards Sasuke, wondering what made Sasuke think he would give into the bastard's demands.

"First one to come loses." Of course, Naruto didn't need any further prompting than a challenge, and with that, both of them took each other into their mouths and began to suck. Sasuke began to suck Naruto slowly, bobbing his head up and down. Naruto, on the other hand, sucked Sasuke fast and hard. Sasuke used the method Naruto had used on him, and began to hum. When Naruto's pace slowed slightly, clearly enjoying the vibrations, Sasuke chuckled, causing more vibrations to travel up and down Naruto's length, pleasing Naruto's heated arousal. But when Naruto moaned with Sasuke still in his mouth, Sasuke felt his own cock twitch excitedly. Sasuke closed his eyes as he scraped his teeth along Naruto's head.

Naruto gasped again, so much so that Sasuke's member popped out of his mouth. Naruto growled, grasping at Sasuke's shaft, and pumping him as he put Sasuke's head in his mouth and began to lick furiously at it.

Sasuke smirked, activating his sharingan, watching the different body movements Naruto was making.

Sasuke could see the movements of Naruto's body, especially the way his cock twitched expectantly. With his sharingan activated, Sasuke felt as though time had slowed down for him, his movements becoming faster.

He felt Naruto's mouth on him, but Naruto's minstrations seemed to slow down - not that it made it feel that much different. Then again, Sasuke mused, it actually seemed to heighten Sasuke's sensitivity to the pleasure that Naruto was giving him. However, Sasuke now had the upper hand. Not only had Sasuke been playing with Naruto for a while before they had started their little game, but Sasuke was now using his sharingan to predict Naruto's movements, sensing the ripples in his body, determining what was giving Naruto the most pleasure, what was producing Naruto to make the greatest shudders.

Sasuke smirked, knowing there was no way he was going to come before Naruto. Sasuke slowly began to deep throat Naruto, though to Naruto, it felt like Sasuke was going at top speed. Sasuke ran his teeth down Naruto's shaft as he engulfed Naruto, and then bobbed his head back, sucking as he pulled almost all the way out.

Naruto didn't know what Sasuke was doing, but he felt like Sasuke had just stepped something up a notch, especially as Sasuke's seemingly long tongue wrapped around his shaft.

"Nnn! Sasuke!" Naruto moaned out, crying Sasuke's name as he came, his body shaking violently. Sasuke's penis had once again pulled out of Naruto's mouth, though Sasuke was busy swallowing Naruto's essence to do anything about it. Sasuke sucked off everything Naruto gave him, and then allowed Naruto's limp member to fall out of his mouth.

"I win," Sasuke smirked.

"Che. Teme," Naruto groaned, his body feeling amazing as he pressed himself back against the branches.

"I'll even give you a rematch," Sasuke smirked. Naruto's eyes widened slightly before he looked around him to see the snakes completely gone from his body, his hands free, and Dokueki and the other two snakes seemingly to have vanished.

Sasuke put chakra to his hands, and by pushing off the branches, used it to propel himself to do a one handed handstand while pulling his pants back to their "proper" position with the other. Naruto meanwhile flipped to the branches below him, hiking up his pants a little less gracefully, though he did manage to put a good deal of distance between himself and Sasuke.

Looking below him, Sasuke had trouble seeing through the trees as Naruto used them to hide. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, amused. It appeared that Naruto's loud mouth fighting style had changed since their old Team 7 days.

Without turning around, Sasuke sent a fist behind him, catching a kage bunshin square in the jaw, making it vanish in a puff of smoke.

"Don't you have any new techniques? Kage bunshin is rather old, isn't it?" Sasuke taunted. Listening carefully, Sasuke waited to hear Naruto make some sort of snide remark, but he didn't raise to the bait. It seems Naruto was taking things a little more seriously that he had been.

"Teme!" Twelve Naruto voices yelled, as a gust of wind knocked Sasuke back against the tree behind him. Sasuke barely had time to catch his breath before ducking as ten kunai came towards his head, Sasuke catching the eleventh and twelfth in midair. With deft movements, Sasuke sent the kunai back towards where they came from, followed by two popping noises, indicating he had made two of Naruto's clones vanish, letting him know he had found his targets.

Still, Sasuke was getting annoyed. He was still painfully hard, his penis extremely uncomfortable against the fabric of his clothing. Fighting wasn't even helping him go down. Instead, he kept on seeing images of a naked Naruto and he wrestling things out, their bodies touching intimately.

"Oi, Naruto. This isn't what I meant when I said rematch," Sasuke muttered, his hand going down to grip his arousal. Sasuke wanted to close his eyes as he imagined that it was Naruto gripping him, but was still wary of Naruto being in attack mode. So it was under a half-lidded eye that Sasuke saw Naruto appear slowly on the branch he stood on.

"Never thought you'd be so horny," Naruto said amused as he came up behind Sasuke, Naruto's arms wrapping around Sasuke's waist, both of his hands slipping beneath the waistband of Sasuke's pants as he moved Sasuke's hand aside, gripping Sasuke with both hands, using both hands to jerk him off. Sasuke leaned back against Naruto, feeling a feral need rise within him.

Naruto couldn't help smirking as he watched the flicker of emotions go over Sasuke's face, feeling the pre-cum leaking out of Sasuke's slit.

"Naruto," Sasuke said breathily. "I want more." Sasuke gripped Naruto's wrists, pulling them away from him as he pushed Naruto down through the trees, the two of them wrestling as they fell from branch to branch.

Sasuke landed atop of Naruto heavily. For his part, Naruto felt the wind leave him, as Sasuke's hands once again pulled his pants to his ankles. Naruto felt exposed but thrilled as Sasuke pressed his cock against Naruto's, rubbing them together frantically. Sasuke was being rough, but Naruto wanted something more – rougher, harder, faster.

"Sa-Sasuke. Harder!" Sasuke and Naruto bucked frantically against each other, wildly pushing their bodies together.

"Harder!" Naruto demanded, and Sasuke laid his fully weight against Naruto, putting his hands on Naruto's shoulders to propel himself against Naruto. Naruto's eyes met Sasuke's likewise lust filled ones, and something came back to Naruto, vaguely remembering when Sasuke had first come to him.

"H-harder," Naruto gasped, closing his eyes, "in me." Sasuke didn't need any more prompting than that, but instead of entering Naruto from the front, he flipped Naruto onto his stomach. Naruto moaned as Sasuke forced Naruto to support himself on his hands and knees. Sasuke gripped Naruto's ass, pushing his legs wide with either side of his feet, and thrust himself in.

"Aaaah!" Naruto griped at the pain, feeling his body ripping at the unprepared intrusion, the friction unbelievably painful, yet pleasurable at the same time. Sasuke wasn't deterred by Naruto's scream of pain, and instead ignored it as he continued to pummel into Naruto, ignoring the slight moans of pain coming from Naruto – not that Naruto wanted him to stop.

Though there was pain, the friction that he felt as Sasuke moved inside him was the exact feeling of hardness Naruto had wanted. Sasuke slammed into him harder, and Naruto bucked back against the man atop him as Sasuke continued to assault his prostrate dead on, Sasuke's thickness filling and pleasuring Naruto.

"Naruto," Sasuke moaned, finding himself lost within Naruto. The friction, kami-sama, how the friction made him hot. He gripped Naruto's shoulders and drove himself deeper, Naruto making delicious noises beneath him. Sasuke leaned his chest against Naruto's back and moved his hands so they were grabbing Naruto's biceps as he found a way to drive himself as deep as possible inside Naruto's tight, and heated body. Sasuke began leaving love bites along Naruto's neck and shoulder, kissing and biting through the orange fabric Sasuke wished he had thought to remove before jumping Naruto.

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" The lovers cried as one as they came together, one riding his orgasm into the man below him, the other spilling his seed across the ground. They stayed in their intimate positions for a minute, feeling sated, neither wanting to move away from the warmth of their friend - their rival - their lover.

Sasuke pulled away, his semen seeping out of Naruto as he pulled out. Naruto grunted at the feeling of Sasuke's penis sliding out of him. Still, a crashing reality seemed to come over the two of them. Sasuke moved slightly away from Naruto, pulling up his pants, Naruto getting up and doing the same thing.

"I don't understand you Sasuke," Naruto said at last. Sasuke remained quiet, waiting for Naruto to continue. "I heard Dokueki say that you wanted to kill me. Yet you're here, having sex with me. What the hell is going on?" Naruto asked, his voice growing angry, clearly feeling confused and hurt.

"It's hard to explain, but I don't want you dead," Sasuke said, his eyes boring into Naruto's, hoping that Naruto would be able to understand the hint laced within his statement, the true meaning behind Sasuke's plans. But Naruto merely shook his head, and Sasuke had a feeling that Naruto didn't get it.

"I still don't understand," Naruto said angrily. "What's going on teme?!" Naruto demanded, jumping on Sasuke, pushing him back to the ground, though Sasuke was half expecting it. Naruto was always unpredictable when his anger would appear. Naruto's eyes blazed down into Sasuke's.

"Trust me, dobe," Sasuke murmured. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Dokueki slithering in the grass next to them. Naruto also glanced at her briefly, as Dokueki slithered up Naruto's wrist as if to console him.

"I think the cold bastard issss trying to say that he caressss for you," Dokueki said, trying to translate Sasuke's emotionless expression. Naruto merely sighed, looking down into Sasuke's eyes.

"Come after me when I send you my signal," Sasuke reminded Naruto. "We should get going, Dokueki. Naruto, you should return to your camp," with that, Sasuke placed a good-bye kiss on Naruto's lips.

Next Chapter: Restless Naru/Sasu Smut

Remember, you can end reading here if you don't like Naru/Sasu, though if you do like it - read on! (Either way, I'd appreciate it if you tell me what you thought of the smut in this chapter, and if you prefer me splitting who gets top and bottom, or if you want me to just stick with one or the other.)

Honestly though, what did you think of the smut? If you do read on, let me know how you compare it to the next chapter, because I think the next chapter's smut is a little more wild, but that's just me. Let me know what you think!! - Jelp


	15. Chapter 15: Restless NaruSasu Smut

IMPORTANT: This is a double post. If you are one of those people who sees an update, and just clicks on the last chapter, please note, this is a double post, and you have just missed a chapter.

For those of you who have read the notice on the previous chapter, you know that this is just the Naru/Sasu smut. It can be read independently from Chapter 14, or as a second half. I hope you enjoy!

Just a reminder, for just the Sasu/Naru smut, see the previous chapter.

Sasu/Naru Sasuke tops

Naru/Sasu Naruto tops

**Restless**

**Chapter 15: Restless Naru/Sasu Smut**

Naruto pulled away from Sasuke's kiss, feeling Dokueki wrap around his arm as he must have gotten "warmer."

"You can't just leave me this time without explaining what happened," Naruto said, his voice lower and gentler than just moments before. Sasuke sighed.

"On your birthday, you and I screwed each other senseless," Sasuke said, watching the almost comical expression on Naruto's face as Sasuke bluntly explained what happened between the two of them. "I drugged you with a sort of anti-venom so that you would not remember what happened, as well as to help build up your immune system to certain types of poisons."

Naruto stood up suddenly, looking as betrayed now as he had when he saw the needled that Sasuke shoved into his arm. His fists were shaking, Dokueki's eyes looking up at Naruto as though to try and console him.

"Get - off," Naruto hissed at Dokueki. Dokueki didn't argue as she slithered off of his wrist, unwrapping herself before gently falling to the ground. Sasuke stood up, looking at Naruto. He knew he'd put Naruto through a lot, and it seemed that Naruto was finally snapping. Turning his head to look at Sasuke, Naruto's eyes flashed red in the moonlight.

There was a glint of something in Naruto's eyes, the anger perhaps, of being submissive before, and not having a chance to show his dominance, or rather, the parasite inside his body not having a chance to show his dominance. Looking at Naruto's eyes, Sasuke was sure that the Kyuubi was slowly leaking into Naruto. Sasuke sighed, knowing he would have to live up to his end of the bargain soon.

FLASHBACK

_"Interesting plan you've got _t_here, gaki," the Kyuubi rumbled. Sasuke ignored the tone that_ _Kyuubi was taunting him with. Kyuubi was a formidable foe after all, and it was best to just let him talk as he pleased. Sasuke waited, watching the nine-tailed demon before him. The way that the Kyuubi wasn't even looking at him, but rather staring at_ _Naruto's limp body somehow put Sasuke on edge._

_"And?" Sasuke prompted._

_"And what?" Kyuubi spat back, still not looking at Sasuke._

_"And will you agree?" Sasuke asked._

_"Why should I?" Kyuubi asked unconcernedly, allowing his chakra body to move towards where Naruto lied. Sasuke had a strange urge to throw himself in between Kyuubi and Naruto but refrained._

_"I thought I made those points quite obvious," Sasuke said through gritted teeth._

_"You're like a little kid not getting his way. You should be more respectful," Kyuubi's deep voice rumbled, half amused as he finally allowed one large eye to peer back at Sasuke._

_Kyuubi's tongue darted out to lick at Naruto, and this time, Sasuke moved, placing himself in between Naruto and Kyuubi. The Kyuubi redrew his tongue and laughed a deep, triumphant laugh._

_"So you're the one!" Kyuubi laughed darkly still. Sasuke looked between Naruto and Kyuubi confused._

_"What are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded._

_"You see, little Uchiha, although I live within Naruto, I rarely know what is going on outside of his body. However, there are times when I am more aware, times when Naruto's, shall we say, trying to exert his dominance? Clearly you're the one who has been making him feel such interesting emotions. I can see it in the way you wanted to protect him," Sasuke's face remained passive, but he knew his rigid body language was giving everything away. "If I am not mistaken, he tends to be more especially unruly when trying out sexual games with you, am I right?" The slight blush on Sasuke's face spoke volumes to the Kyuubi._

_"What are you getting at?" Sasuke asked, his voice dangerously low._

_"I've no interest in what sex games you humans play, but I do enjoy it when I am able to feel more of the air outside. You see, every time Naruto gets riled up, I can come out a little bit. I can begin to feel more of the surroundings outside this cursed prison. Feeling fresh air is something I miss, as well as the joy of feeling water on my body. You get Naruto riled up so he is feeling dominant enough that I can feel the environment around me, as well as so that I can feel water again, then I will agree."_

_"Fine, but that doesn't mean I have to let him be dominant," Sasuke gritted out. The Kyuubi chuckled again._

_"Dear little Uchiha, you don't know how animalistic our dear little Naruto can be. I'll agree, but I warn you, you better be careful yourself. Naruto can be dangerous when he wants to be."_

END FLASHBACK

Sasuke "hmphed" thinking about the conversation that he and Kyuubi had had earlier that day. There was no way that Naruto would be able to get him to be compliant, not with everything that he had learned.

Nonetheless, looking at the slits of Naruto's eyes surrounded by red as Naruto was clearly allowing some of the Kyuubi's chakra affect him.

"So, I'm just some fuck toy to you?" Naruto asked dangerously. Sasuke's own eyes turned red, as he activated his sharingan.

"Naruto, I told you before, I need you to help me," Sasuke said, his voice likewise low, and as equally dangerous. "You promised you would help me," Sasuke whispered, playing on Naruto's nindo. He knew Naruto would never go back on his word.

"Yes, but that's before you mislead me, you bastard!" Sasuke was ready for it, as Naruto throw a punch at him. Whirling around, Sasuke went to kick the side of Naruto's head, but the blonde dodged it easily.

"Come on dobe, it's not my fault you're so easily riled. Come and get me if you think that you can prove me wrong, Naruto," Sasuke taunted, knowing that Naruto wouldn't be able to resist the bait. Sasuke weaved through the trees, looking for the lake that he had scouted out while he had been waiting for Naruto, and stood out into the center of the lake. Sasuke knew Naruto just needed some time to get out his frustrations, and Sasuke figured he could do so while keeping up his end of the bargain with the Kyuubi, and began a sort of chasing game with Naruto.

Though he was sure that Naruto had followed him, Sasuke didn't see where the blonde had gotten to. He looked out across the lake, looking at the tree line. He even looked down at his feet, but he knew that Naruto would have to splash into the lake before getting underneath him. Or so Sasuke though. Two hands grabbed Sasuke by the ankles while two kage bunshin jumped at him from seemingly no where, pushing him downwards as his ankles were captured below the surface of the water.

Sasuke felt himself being dragged deeper within the chilly water. His hands formed a series of seals, and he used the full body chidori. The two bodies that had been clinging to him vanished. He smirked triumphantly as he swam back to the surface only to go hurtling downwards again as the water beneath him seemed to open up. Sasuke could barely make out, even with his sharingan activated, the forms of twenty or so Narutos at the bottom of the lake as he hurtled back towards them as the twisting water opened up. Once again, his arms and legs were twisted behind him as he tried to swim upwards.

He felt a punch to his stomach by a third clone, his mouth opening involuntarily as he grunted in pain, water entering his mouth, filling his lungs. Sasuke tried to fight his natural gag reflex, but his mouth only opened more, his lungs filling with more water. Still, he managed to throw one of the clones off of him, using another full body chidori to make the other clones disappear. He swam for the top, throwing kunai at the group of Narutos at the bottom of the lake, but it was no use. They dodged, and he went hurtling back towards them once more. He used his full body chidori for a third time, this time being close enough that they were all affected. With a satisfying pop, all of the clones disappeared.

Once again Sasuke started to swim to the top, but was once again thwarted by no less than nine clones and the real Naruto. Two clones were pressing back on each of his four limbs, and the real Naruto straddled his waist, with the final clone wrapping around him from behind. The weight of the ten bodies pushed him back to the bottom, and Sasuke's body was exhausted from chakra usage, as well as the water that was in his body.

Looking into what he could see of Naruto's eyes, he could tell that his anger had been replaced with a feral lust, the Kyuubi probably enjoying it as he fed Naruto even more animalistic and wonton desires. Sasuke felt himself shudder, feeling the raw power seeping off of Naruto, his body shivering involuntarily, knowing what was in store for him with the look from those demonic eyes. He dimly remembered the time at the spa when Naruto had gotten the upper hand by using lots of clones, and remembered just how good it had felt. Clearly Naruto had a thing for using his clones in order to assert his dominance. He also idly wondered if this was what Kyuubi had meant when he said that Naruto was dangerous.

His mind was numb, and the giddiness was beginning to set in. The oxygen to his brain was being effectively cut off, and Sasuke knew the lack of oxygen was taking its toll. Sasuke felt like a dead weight, as he felt the many Naruto's begin to undress him. One of the clones pressed their mouths to his, breathing sweet oxygen back into Sasuke's lungs, but it still didn't feel like nearly enough.

Hands caressed him everywhere as his clothes were slid across his body, or in the case of the real Naruto, literally ripped off of him. Through numbed eyelids Sasuke saw the real Naruto in a glint of moonlight amidst the dark waters at the bottom. His eyes were slits, and his nails were elongated, almost clawing at Sasuke's skin.

Sasuke could only watch in bemusement as he let the clones flip him over, his naked backside exposed to the feral form of Naruto. The clones straightened his arms and his legs, exposing as much of Sasuke's body as they could. Sasuke bit his lip as the real Naruto thrust inside of him, no preparation save for the slickness of the water as Naruto's cock filled Sasuke's ass. The water made everything go slower as Naruto pulled in and out of Sasuke's body, but the friction was no less overwhelming. Every time Naruto thrust into him, Sasuke felt the dull pain, and the overwhelming pleasure of feeling his body being abused so deliciously by Naruto. Sasuke felt Naruto's lean body pressing against his back, as well as the now naked clone beneath him.

Naruto thrust hard into Sasuke as the clone rocked his hips and his erection against Sasuke's, making Sasuke's head swim more than it already was.

He could feel giddiness overtaking him again, the lack of oxygen making him feel euphoric, like a drug. Drugs cut off oxygen to the brain, and the lack of oxygen was giving him a natural kind of high, making the sensation of Naruto thrusting into him, and the sensation of his penis grinding against his length was amazing.

The sound of many bodies swimming towards them caused Naruto to slow, but still continue thrusting, as Sasuke dimly saw a long line of Naruto clones swimming up to them. The first two came to him, each capturing his lips in a kiss that was sweet with passion as well as with oxygen, breathing for him as he lay captive on the ocean floor. Sasuke's eyes fluttered shut as the feeling of the man thrusting into him, and the other below him along with the mouth of a Naruto clone pressed warmly on his lips, breathing into him. Sasuke took the opportunity to dart his tongue out, to make the clone kiss him. The clone smirked before assaulting Sasuke's mouth. That clone pulled away, and another mouth engulfed Sasuke's. As Sasuke's clones finished giving him oxygen returning to the surface for air, he watched other Narutos all around him.

The other Narutos were breathing into their fellow clones, and Sasuke twisted his head to see the erotic image of Naruto pressed against Naruto. He knew it was not meant to have been sexual for them, but rather a way for them to stay down there, but it was nonetheless sensual to see an orgy of Narutos grasping at each other. Sasuke's face was so close as he watched the clone beneath him having his mouth pressed against the mouth of another Naruto clone as he was given more oxygen.

Sasuke's lustful look had caught the attention of one of the clones, and he smirked knowingly. He clearly saw Sasuke's look of desire upon seeing Naruto on Naruto, and thus full out kissed his fellow clone. Sasuke moaned as the real Naruto gave a particularly wonderful thrust into him, the friction feeling so good, as the two clones kissed below him. The one rocked even harder against Sasuke's member. They pulled apart, grinning as they saw the passionate look on Sasuke's face, his eyes half closed as he allowed all the feelings to engulf him.

The newest clone motioned something to the others that were holding Sasuke's body spread out. Sasuke felt his body moving slightly away from the Naruto beneath him, closer to the wild man riding atop him, thrusting deeper, as Sasuke arched against him in the throws of the passion his body was feeling. The cock inside him, feeling his and Naruto's arousals pressing together, and the wonderful image of the Narutos around him, pressing their mouths against each other were sending Sasuke reeling. Sasuke looked at the mischievous Naruto who had been giving air to the one beneath him, as he whispered something to that particular clone. Both clones grinned, as the one looked like he was going to 69 his fellow clone. However, instead of engulfing his fellow clone's arousal, he deep throated both Sasuke AND the clone's cocks. Sasuke could barely take it. Now, not only was he being thrust into from behind, and having his cock rub against the other clone's manhood, but now he had a Naruto deep throating two cocks at once. Sasuke lost it as he came. As Sasuke began to come, the clone removed his mouth, letting Sasuke's come into the water. And come Sasuke did.

Sasuke came in glorious waves, his body spasming in pleasure. The real Naruto behind him thrust harder and faster inside Sasuke, coming as Sasuke spasmed against him, the tightness of his body enclosing upon Naruto. Another clone had come down to him at this time, pressing his mouth against Sasuke's to give him more air, though Sasuke likewise pressed his lips greedily against this clone. The other clones released Sasuke, and he could hear many popping noises of the many Narutos disappearing. Sasuke let his body float back to the top, feeling the real Naruto's hand gripping his upper arm. Naruto's nails were sharp, but he felt them shrinking as they reached the surface of the water, and Sasuke could tell that the Kyuubi's influence had subsided. At least, for now.

Naruto and Sasuke gasped for air, the moonlight glistening off of their wet skin as they swam to the bank. They fell next to each other on the small strip of sand between the lake and the grass area of the forest, their chests heaving heavily as they lay with their naked backsides against the sand.

Sasuke coughed, water clearing from his throat, as he turned his head to look over at Naruto. Naruto's eyes were closed, and he looked so erotic with his hair plastered to his forehead, his chest heaving as air returned to those beautiful lips. His body seemed to glow as the moonlight reflected from the water on his naked skin.

Naruto's eyes opened and he turned to peer over at Sasuke.

Naruto had never seen Sasuke look so incredible. His silky black hair framing his face, and his eyes, oh his eyes, they were looking at Naruto in such a deeply sated manner that Naruto couldn't help but grin seductively back.

"You look much better without those silly clothes on you, teme," Naruto breathed out, his breath finally returning to him.

"You're one to talk, dobe. Orange is not your color, except on that black trench coat that you have," Sasuke smirked. Naruto turned away from Sasuke, his eyes closing again as he realized with that statement that Sasuke had indeed seen him on his sixteenth birthday. They lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the strange peace that had settled between them. However, Sasuke felt his penis begin to twitch as Naruto lazily reached down to scratch himself.

Then, rolling over onto his stomach, Naruto practically nuzzled the sand.

"This feels nice and warm after being in the cool water," Naruto mumbled. Sasuke snorted.

"You almost sound like Dokueki." Before Naruto could respond, Sasuke was straddling Naruto from behind. "I bet I can think of something to warm your body up," Sasuke whispered into Naruto's ear.

Sasuke gripped Naruto by the shoulders, preparing to drive himself into Naruto's body, but was shocked to feel a multitude of hands once again encircling his wrists and ankles, distracting him before he could thrust. A plant was left before him, and Sasuke cursed.

"The replacement technique?" Sasuke managed to hiss out.

"You're getting predictable, ne, Sasuke?" The real Naruto said from behind him, this time licking Sasuke's entrance. Sasuke began to struggle against the multitude of Narutos holding his body down, squirming at the unusual feel of Naruto's tongue licking him.

"Can't do anything on your own! Always have to get help to defeat me, eh?" Sasuke moaned out, trying to suppress the way his voice cracked with pleasure, as he tried taunting the other boy. Clearly Naruto enjoyed gang banging him.

"You see Sasuke," one of the clones that was holding him said, "this is where you never quite grasped the meaning of teamwork. Teams are always so much better than one."

"Aaah!" Sasuke moaned as Naruto plunged his tongue within him followed by, was that a second tongue? Sasuke tried turning his head to look behind him, but found it hard with all the other Narutos clinging him to even attempt to determine who was doing what to him. Still, Sasuke squirmed as he felt what felt like a _third _tongue enter him, stretching him. Unlike fingers or even a penis, the tongue could be made softer or harder at will, and Naruto was being surprisingly soft.

Or at least, he had been. Naruto pointed his tongue, or was it tongues? so that Sasuke felt himself stretching even more. Sasuke's hand groped around, trying to grasp something, but the clones did not allow himself to grasp at anything but the sand beneath him.

Naruto and two of his clones did indeed have their tongues inside of Sasuke. They were pressed cheek to cheek in a very awkward position in order to be able to enter him in such away, but they were managing nonetheless. Sasuke was wriggling beneath their ministrations, the other Narutos having to hold him still.

All three pulled their tongues out, and Sasuke felt empty with the loss. Naruto let one of his clones position himself atop of Sasuke, while the real Naruto instructed the other Narutos to lift Sasuke off the ground.

Sasuke felt rather humiliated at the awkward position as he was hoisted off the ground enough so that the real Naruto could wiggle under him. Naruto engulfed Sasuke's shaft, in one warm, wet swipe before pulling his mouth off again.

"Damn tease," Sasuke gritted out frustrated. Naruto just grinned wickedly before practically spitting into his hand, and moistening his cock. The other Narutos lowered Sasuke so that Naruto's cock was pressed close to his entrance.

'Why don't they just put me on him?' Sasuke wondered in frustration, his body hot and bothered and wanting to fuck Naruto, or be fucked, as he felt Naruto slowly entering him – along with another cock.

"Wa-wait a minute," Sasuke said, trying hard not to sound panicked. He finally realized why Naruto had been stretching him so much. Not only was Naruto entering him, but a clone was coming at him from behind, the two arousals pressed close together as they entered Sasuke. Naruto didn't really wait, but rather slowed his pace down as he and his clone began to enter Sasuke, fucking him at the same time.

"Aaah! Aaah!" Sasuke moaned as Naruto and his clone found a unique rhythm inside of Sasuke. Sasuke's body felt stretched, but the friction was unbelievably blissful. Sasuke couldn't help but arch back, feeling euphoric, as Naruto would push into him as his clone pulled out, and then when his clone would push in, Naruto would pull out. Pushpull. Pullpush. Sasuke was in heaven. And so was Naruto.

Naruto couldn't believe the feelings his body was going through as Sasuke lay panting greedily atop him, Naruto pumping in and out of him. The friction inside Sasuke was one thing, but to feel himself and the friction of his member against his clone's member made Naruto begin to lose himself quickly. Naruto was coming, and he was going to come hard.

"Sasuke!" Naruto and his clone chorused out together as they began to come inside of Sasuke, their hips bucking frantically into Sasuke, as flesh slapped against flesh.

Sasuke moaned as he managed to free both of his hands, punching the clones on his arms so that his hands were free. He grasped Naruto's hair as he pulled himself against Naruto, crushing the other boys lips against his own, his member brushing against Naruto's chest, finally able to rub his erection on something. As Naruto ground against him, Naruto pulled his now limp member out of Sasuke. Naruto released his clones, allowing Sasuke to grind against him, once again rocking his hips against Sasuke.

Naruto's body was pushed into the ground as Sasuke came on Naruto's chest. Sasuke ground his body against Naruto's until his shuddering stopped, his breath coming out heavily. Sasuke lowered himself so that he was lying atop of Naruto. He laid like that for a minute before he moved his head so that his lips were brushing against Naruto's ear.

"Liked gang-banging me, didn't you?" Sasuke breathed dangerously, and Naruto felt a chill run down his body. He got the distinct feeling while though Sasuke enjoyed what he had done to him, he didn't particularly enjoy not having the label of "dominant."

"Didn't you?" Naruto challenged back. Sasuke's eyes flashed, his sharingan blazing as he looked down on Naruto, Naruto feeling very vulnerable lying beneath Sasuke.

"Hn." Sasuke said with his usual non-committal answer, pushing himself off of Naruto. He stood up and walked out onto the surface of the lake, his pale body practically glowing. To Naruto, Sasuke almost looked like a ghost as he walked out onto the surface of the lake, collecting his clothes that were somehow half floating within the water. It was then that Naruto saw Dokueki swimming within the water, having (though with some difficulty) brought the clothes up from the bottom of the lake.

"Don't forget," Sasuke called over his shoulder at Naruto, looking dangerous and sexy all at once, "do not come after me. Wait till I make my move. You gave me your word, after all." Naruto sat up on the ground, watching mesmerized, as Sasuke got dressed into his soaking wet clothes.

"Bye Naruto! Nice meeting you!" Dokueki called over the lake, waving her tail. Naruto didn't quite know what to do, but he quickly covered himself, feeling slightly awkward with the way she was staring at him.

Sasuke merely looked at Naruto before transporting himself and Dokueki away. Grumbling, Naruto got up and began rummaging around, trying to remember where he had left his clothes. Even after he had finally found them, and put them back on - thankful that he had managed to shed his clothes before going into the water, thus having them be dry - he felt somehow chilled. Just earlier that day he had seen Sasuke in what he thought was the first time in three years. Now he found out that not only had Sasuke seen him before, but they had also been intimate.

Besides his body feeling sore, Naruto felt strange. He wasn't quire sure what to make of these new feelings coursing through his body. There was no mistaking he lusted after his friend, and he obviously liked him. Yet there was something in knowing that Sasuke still cared about him, that Sasuke had taken the time to seek him out that made Naruto's heart flutter, his former anger at his friend long forgotten.

Even after Naruto found his camp well past four in the morning, he still couldn't sleep as too many confusing thoughts and feelings raced in his head.

Next Chapter: Restless Waiting

Please let me know what you think! Which smut was better? Was it okay::needs closure:: - Jelp


	16. Chapter 16: Restless Waiting

First: **more spoilers**. Some things will be based on what happened in the manga, but others will strictly be from my imagination. If you don't know which is which, then I'm not going to tell you (unless you ask really nicely), and you can still be surprised when you finally read the manga or watch the anime.

Second: Sorry I haven't been updating as frequently. I had a story stuck in my head that just wouldn't leave me alone. It's called "Nameless Desires." Feel free to check it out.

Third: Thank you all for your input on the two smut chapters. :-) It really made my day!

Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 16: Restless Waiting**

"Naruto, wake-up," Sakura said, shaking Naruto gently. "Naruto!" Sakura said, concernedly when Naruto didn't even move. Naruto heard her voice, but it sounded like she was talking to him from far away. He was also vaguely away that her "gentle" shaking had turned quite violent as she tried to force him awake, though his body was too tired to really care.

"Is he usually this heavy of a sleeper?" Sai asked, poking Naruto with a stick. Naruto felt something jab him in his side, but he still didn't stir, feeling like he was having an out of body experience; though being continuously jabbed in the side was getting rather annoying.

"Sai, stop that!" Sakura chided, swiping the stick from his hand. Sai wisely backed away from her as she looked ready to swing the stick and break it over his head. That would definitely hurt with her strength. "I'm really concerned about him! He's not even moving. He's usually a very restless sleeper, and he hasn't been moving around at all!" Sakura said, rather frantically.

'I'm fine,' Naruto tried saying so she'd leave him be, but found that his lips were too heavy to form words.

"Naruto, ramen!" Sakura said excitedly. 'Ramen?!' Naruto thought, half excitedly, but his body was still too tired to move, so he just lied there, motionless.

"There's no ramen around here, Sakura," Sai said, confused.

"Something's really wrong with him!" Sakura said, half-hysterically. "He always wakes up when I mention ramen," Sakura muttered, reaching down while pouring chakra into her hands as she placed them delicately on his head as she began to give him a medical examination.

Somewhere in the back of Naruto's mind, he knew exactly why he was so exhausted. He had used the Kyuubi's power to an extremity yesterday, and then he had gone and done a lot of, er, _exercising_, last night with Sasuke. His body was healing itself, but he hadn't given himself enough time to sleep. As he became more away of his surroundings, noting the positioning of the sun through his barely slitted eyes, he realized that he had probably only fallen asleep an hour ago.

He needed at least five good hours of sleep for him to go through effective self-healing from the Kyuubi. Well, at least that was what Ero-Sennin had told him. Naruto was never really good at all that medical mumbo-jumbo nonsense. But as Sakura's hands began to gently roam from his head to his neck, and then to his shoulders, he knew that he needed to wake himself up before she got any lower. He really couldn't have her realizing which body parts of his he had been over-exerting. That would raise too many awkward questions. _Very_ awkward questions.

Wrenching himself out of his semi-comatose state, Naruto waved Sakura's hand away from going any lower during her examination.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Naruto grumbled as he sat up, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. "Just slept lousy." The look on Sakura's face was enough for Naruto to feel guilty about not telling her the entire truth, but he really _had_ slept lousy.

"Are you well enough to travel?" Yamato asked as he approached Naruto's bedroll, having decided it would be best for his usual teammate to try and wake him up. He had seen what had happened when Sai woke up Sasuke who had blown up his entire room, so Yamato was a little wary about trying to wake up any of the other members of the former Team 7. Naruto's stomach gave an extremely large growl.

"Heheheh," Naruto laughed embarrassed, rubbing the back of his head. "I'll be fine after I have some decent breakfast!" Yamato nodded, not pushing the subject as Naruto rolled out of his bedroll. Sai seemed to believe Naruto as well, and went back to finishing the drawing he was doing. Sakura was another matter.

"Naruto, you are NOT well. You didn't even stir when I mentioned ramen," Sakura said accusingly.

"Awww, come-on Saaaaaakura-chaaaaaan. I'm not that dumb. I know there's no ramen around here right now. I already finished my instant packs," Naruto said as he finished rolling up his bedroll.

"Well, I guess I can eat this all by myself then," Sakura said, as she pulled out a block of instant ramen, and then nodded her head back to where she was boiling water, grinning widely.

"S-Sakura!" Naruto said. "You brought RAMEN along?" Any sleepiness he had felt was long gone.

"Tsunade suggested I bring it, just in case you needed some cheering up," Sakura smiled, giving him a "V" for Victory sign. "So, do you want some?" Sakura asked.

"You bet, dattebayo!"

* * *

Sasuke was leaning rather uncomfortably against a tree. Normally his nonchalant pose of "I don't care and you can't make me," was very comfortable. Except that there was a certain part of his body that was sore in a way that it had never been before.

In as such, Sasuke was therefore brooding, in pain, and just a tad bit cranky. Not that that was anything overly unusual, but usually his brooding did not bring anyone else such joy like it currently did for his only company.

"Shut-up," Sasuke hissed to Dokueki.

"I haven't said a word," Dokueki snickered to herself.

"Yes, but your thoughts are so obvious it sounds like you're talking," Sasuke brooded.

"Well, it'ssss rather obvioussss you're in pain when you keep squirming like that," Dokueki hissed in laughter.

"I am not squirming," Sasuke said, livid.

"Sorry," Dokueki said, though she did not sound sorry at all. Sasuke ignored her. She slithered around his feet trying to stay warm, muttering to herself.

"What now?" Sasuke said as his usual coolness came back to him.

"You're feet are cold, and so am I," Dokueki pouted.

"That's your problem, not mine," Sasuke said, wondering if there was ever a time that Dokueki _wasn't_ cold.

"Yessss, but you can be so warm when you want to be!" Dokueki whined longingly as she began to snake up Sasuke's leg, then his stomach to finally entwine around his left arm. "So cold."

"It is not cold."

"Compared to what you were last night, you are very cold now Sasuke."

"If I had it my way, you wouldn't have been there at all last night."

"It'ssss not my fault. Besidessss, I wanted to know how, interesting, thingssss would be between you and your friend. It was sure nice to meet him," Dokueki smirked as well as a snake could.

"Yes, well now that you've thoroughly gotten to see just how exciting I can be, will you please get off my back about it."

"But I can't help it! I've never seen you look so heated or so exotic or so-" Sasuke clamped a hand over Dokueki's mouth before she could finish her thoughts.

"Just drop it. We have another two days before Orochimaru meets us back here at this rendezvous point, and if you bug me any more, I'll send you back," Sasuke threatened. Dokueki looked murderous, but she held her tongue. As a summons, Sasuke could send her back to her summons realm as he pleased, and he knew that she much preferred staying away from the large snake realm, something about it being too cold for her liking. Sasuke released the grip that he had on her snout.

"You're no fun. I should have stayed with Naruto-kun," Dokueki muttered, though she couldn't stop the smirk from spreading on her face. "Besidessss the fact that you're squirming now, how did it it feel to have Naru-"

"If you finish that thought you're dead," Sasuke threatened.

"Geeze, no sense of humor at all. And what happened with sending me back?" Sasuke's death glare finally made her stay silent.

* * *

Tsunade looked morosely at the group in front of her. Naruto definitely seemed to be exhausted, but he did not seem to be nearly as miserable as she had thought he would be after failing to retrieve Sasuke yet again. He seemed quite cheerful, smiling widely. However, Tsunade did note that Sakura kept on shooting worried glances to her bright teammate.

"At least we have some new information about Orochimaru, and you have all returned safely," Tsunade mused out loud. "Sai and Yamato, you are dismissed. Sakura, Naruto - a word with you both."

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other, wondering what she wanted to speak to them about.

"I am sure that you are both extremely disappointed that we were unable to obtain Sasuke, but I am sure you realize that there is only so much time and effort Konoha can spend trying to make Sasuke return. In the meantime, I think that the both of you should take a break from long missions," Tsunade explained gently. Sakura was about to protest that it was in Konoha's best interest to locate Sasuke, but Naruto spoke up first.

"That's a good idea. If Sasuke is not ready to come back yet, it will be a waste of time to try and go after him right now." Both Sakura and Tsunade looked at Naruto aghast, not believing that Naruto would ever give up his chase of Sasuke, nor miss any opportunity to try and return him to Konoha. "Besides," Naruto continued, "I need to train, train, train in order to become even more powerful so that way I can kick that teme's ass and knock some sense back into his pale little head!"

Tsunade and Sakura breathed a mental sigh of relief, glad that Naruto hadn't been deterred.

"Alright, then you will start your training after Kakashi is well. From what he told me, he has some excellent ideas on how he wants to spend your training," Tsunade explained, and Naruto's grin widened.

"I'm ready when he is!"

* * *

"You really need to stop over exerting yourself, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto chided, as Kakashi met Naruto in a training area on the outskirts of Konoha.

"Hello to you too," Kakashi said, smiling fondly. Naruto looked over Kakashi's shoulder to see that Yamato was following behind him.

"Hello Yamato-taichou," Naruto greeted, smiling. "I didn't know you were going to be here too."

"Yes, well the training that we will be doing today is a little special. In fact, only you can do this type of training," Kakashi said, smiling beneath his mask.

"Really?" Naruto asked, excitedly.

"Yes," Kakashi went on to explain that Naruto could only do this particular type of training because he 1) could us kage bunshin no jutsu, and 2) had massive amounts of chakra.

"Excellent!" Naruto cheered, excitedly.

"I'm not sure if you have ever noticed this or not, but kage bunshin no jutsu are not only useful as a decoy, but they are also good for obtaining new information. Even if a bunshin were to go thousands of miles away from you, as soon as he disappears, whatever new information he learns will come back to you. For instance, if you were to go into a fortress, but did not know where the traps were, you could have several kage bunshins find all the traps so that you would not get killed. Which means that you can learn new techniques at a much faster rate. You see, the technique that I want you to try and create would probably normally take years and years to master. But by using a large number of bunshin, you can figure it out in a few months. Since you're the only one who seems to have such a massive amount of chakra, you're the only one who can fully pull of this type of training. Understand?"

"Yep! Alright, time to train, tra-"

"Not quite Naruto. First, you need to take a test," Kakashi said as he and Yamato exchanged knowing looks.

"A-a test?" Naruto asked hesitantly, his grin faltering.

"Yes, a paper test," Kakashi said, his smirk growing wider.

"Kakashi-sensei, you know I'm no good at paper tests. Why-" Naruto stopped mid-thought as he saw Kakashi pull out a small piece of paper. Naruto just looked at Kakashi confused. All it was, was literally a small piece of paper. There was nothing written on it at all.

"This is a special kind of test. It tests what type of chakra element user you are," Kakashi explained.

"Element?" Naruto asked confused.

"Naruto, do you remember when you asked me to teach you the chidori? The reason that I taught that technique to Sasuke was because he can use lightening element chakra. Actually, he can use two different types of elements. He uses fire and lightening. Some others may only use one. The other three elements include, wind, water, and earth. That is not to say that people who are not strong in those areas cannot use other elements. It just means that one or two elements happen to be easier for a shinobi to use. What you are going to do is to pour some of your chakra into this piece of paper. When you pour your chakra into it, it will either crumple if you are a lightening user, tear if you are a wind user, burn if you're a fire user, etc. So therefore, depending on how your chakra affects the paper will determine what element or elements you are strong in and will better help you to develop your new technique."

Kakashi handed Naruto the piece of paper. Naruto concentrated, and poured some chakra into it. Yamato smiled, not overly surprised to see what happened to the piece of paper. It had torn in half.

"It appears that you're a wind user. It's the strongest battle type element," Yamato said, smiling. Naruto smiled too, feeling elated to know that his type was best for battle.

"In order to start on a new technique with elemental jutsu, you have to be able to use your wind chakra to cut something, say a leaf. For a normal shinobi, this type of training would take about six months-"

"Six months?" Naruto interrupted Kakashi with his surprise.

"Yes, but hopefully by using tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu, you will be able to cut that time down significantly," Kakashi finished explaining.

After Kakashi finished explaining the details of what Naruto was to do in order to train by using kage bunshin no jutsu, Kakashi sat off to the side with Yamato who was there to help Kakashi if Naruto began to leak out the Kyuubi's chakra.

"Yamato-san," Kakashi murmured, watching amused as Naruto after Naruto compared notes with his fellow clone neighbor, some of them complaining about how "the me over there got a smaller leaf to use to cut" or "why is the me over there doing better?" Yamato turned to look at Kakashi.

"Yes?"

"While you were gone, there were some upsets within the council. Some of them do not think that Naruto should be going away from Konoha because he is the Nine-Tails. Surprisingly though, a few of the council members have begun to change their minds about how they view Naruto. Either way, it is becoming more and more clear that the council is becoming either very protective of Naruto, or hold him in contempt. Tsunade has managed to talk to them into letting him roam free, but there are other negative aspects that will influence Naruto due to some of the council members' dislike of Naruto. I am sure at some point during your trip, Naruto must have mentioned his desire to become Hokage?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, I think he did mention that," Yamato replied, looking at Kakashi curiously. Yamato had been in the ANBU for several years now, and he had only taken on Kakashi's team when Kakashi had fallen victim to bed-rest. However, he had heard many stories about Kakashi - the Copy-Nin was legendary after all. He was therefore quite intrigued at where Kakashi was going with this train of thought.

"At the current point in time, Naruto does not have a chance to become Hokage. It has nothing at all to do with his abilities, but rather with some of the people's mistrust and fear of the Kyuubi within him. Naruto has won over many people onto his side with his natural ability to connect with people. Still, he has not been able to win over everyone. Politics can be extremely tiring on someone as open hearted as Naruto. He is not the kind to develop backstabbing plans in order to get what he wants. He's the kind that wants to be everyone's friend," Kakashi explained as he watched the mass of Narutos in front of him, watching as some of the Narutos were trying to help out some of their fellow clones who were not doing as well.

Yamato looked at Naruto and his clones as well, wondering why Kakashi was telling him all this. He had a feeling that Kakashi was not talking to him about it in order to get it off his chest. He had a feeling that the older shinobi was going to request something from him.

"I have a feeling you have some sort of plan to help him?" Yamato said, turning his head to look at Kakashi. Kakashi nodded.

"Naruto may have his faults, but I think if he were given the opportunity, he would become the best Kage any of the Hidden Shinobi Village ever had," Kakashi paused as he changed the subject slightly. "You're familiar with the daimyo, I presume?"

"Naturally. The daimyo is one of the key players in the political aspects of Konoha. But if you think you can get him to help you, you'll have to go through his son and his son's wife. I'm sure you remember his son's wife, right? That really heavy-set lady that always requests for her poor cat to be found? The one that every genin team has probably chased around Konoha?" Yamato said. Kakashi chuckled.

"Yes, I'm well aware that the daimyo's oldest son and his daughter-in-law are quite frequently asking Konoha to retrieve the cat, but they're not who I'm interested in. Are you at all familiar with Kyohaku, the daimyo's eldest daughter?"

"Kyohaku," Yamato pondered allowed, "I think I remember hearing something about her being the favorite child of the daimyo, and that he always insists that she should marry, but other than that, I don't recall anything of great importance about her." Yamato was still clearly confused on what this had to do with Naruto. Kakashi saw Yamato's confusion.

"You're probably wondering what this all has to do with Naruto becoming Hokage, and my desire to help him, aren't you?"

"I am. It's not uncommon for a teacher to want to help his student or students succeed, but there is something about the way you're saying this that makes it sound like you have some ulterior motive going on."

"Perhaps, just slightly," Kakashi murmured his exposed eye roaming around the Narutos, trying to find the one that he believed was the "real" one. "I do have a bit of a personal interest. You see, Kyohaku and my father were, shall we say, _involved_ before he met my mother. Long story short, I am not my father's first son," Kakashi said. Yamato's eyes widened slightly.

"You don't intend to use this against the daimyo's daughter as black-mail do you?" Yamato asked surprised, shocked at what he thought Kakashi was implying. Kakashi chuckled lightly.

"You're misunderstanding me. I believe this piece of information will help Naruto, Konoha, and even Kyohaku. That is where you come in," Kakashi said. "I need you to take some information to the council members - and to Kyohaku herself."

"I don't suppose you're going to get right to the point and stop hinting around the edges of what you want me to do and what this information you want me to tell the council happens to be, are you?" Yamato asked, slightly exasperated.

"ANBU members have access to the internal and sealed records. As the temporary ANBU looking after Naruto, you're allowed to dig into his records in order to get a better understanding of your mission. You are also allowed to request a blood sample be taken. In other words, I want you to take a sample of Naruto's blood and test and see if Kyohaku is Naruto's grandmother. If so, I want you to tell the council," Kakashi finished explaining.

"Wait just a minute. You just implied that your father and Kyohaku had a love child, a son did you say? And now you're implying that this love child is Naruto's father? So in other words, you believe Naruto to be your nephew?" Yamato said, trying to register this bizarre information.

"Yes."

"I see. As his fellow teammate, and former ANBU, you could always check the records, but of course if you were the one to present this information about Naruto, the council would frown on your actions as an act of nepotism. They would not be happy to have a meddling uncle in the way, which is why it has to come from someone else," Yamato said, sighing.

"Exactly," Kakashi said.

Kakashi and Yamato stayed silent as they watched Naruto and his clones try to pour chakra into the leaves, trying to manipulate his wind chakra so that he could cut through the leaf. As soon as he mastered this technique, then he would be able to start mastering his ability to incorporate his elemental chakra into his attacks.

"Considering the fact that Naruto is an orphan, I'm assuming that your brother is dead?" Yamato asked quietly.

"Yes," Kakashi murmured softly.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I don't suppose that Naruto knows that you're his uncle, does he?" Yamato asked. Kakashi shook his head.

"I don't even know that Naruto actually knows who his own father is. If he did, I think he would tell people," Kakashi sighed. "All I have so far are guesses and suspicions. You see, I didn't find out that I even had a half brother until around the time I became Team 7's sensei, and I had only started to suspect that Naruto was my brother's son a few months before Naruto left with his training with Jiraiya-sama. I really want to tell him, but there is still the slightest possibility that my hunch is wrong. I don't want to tell him something like that and then have it turn out to be untrue. He has wanted a family for so long. I can't bare to give him that hope and then take it away," Kakashi felt slightly guilty talking to Yamato about this before Naruto, but he didn't want to tell Naruto something that wasn't one hundred percent true. Kakashi continued explaining.

"If we can prove that Naruto is a blood relative of the daimyo, the council will have to think twice before upsetting the local daimyo. The daimyo would be more than happy to see his great grandson as the highest-ranking shinobi in Konoha, and will therefore support Naruto. The council can't afford offending the daimyo's family be denying one of their family members a chance to become Hokage without politically and economically hurting Konoha - and their own fat bank accounts. This will give Naruto the political edge he needs in order to truly become Hokage," Kakashi explained.

"Why did you come to me? You could have had someone else do it - Jiraiya-sama, or even Hokage-sama seem to have an extra interest in Naruto, and both of them could have easy access to his files," Yamato said, logically. Kakashi scratched the back of his head, nervously.

"Well, you see, the thing is, you'll also have to talk to Kyohaku about this, otherwise it will be impossible to get her blood sample in order to compare it with Naruto's. Knowing Jiraiya, I have a feeling he might get _sidetracked_ with Kyohaku. Apparently she's quite the beauty despite being in her late fifties or early sixties. I really don't want him to offend her. And Tsunade has already made attempts to help Naruto, but there's only so much that she can do on her own. That's why-"

"-you need an 'outsider' to come forward with the information, which is where I come in," Yamato finished for him.

"You also happen to be personally familiar with what Naruto is capable of when he wants to get people onto his side. I read your report about your last mission, and you seemed most impressed when he was able to influence Sai," Kakashi explained. Yamato didn't respond, but instead continued to watch Naruto train.

Kakashi turned his one eye to look at Yamato, smiling gently beneath his mask. 'In other words, I think that Naruto has influenced you too.' Kakashi's musing turned darker. He wanted to ask Naruto what had happened between him and Sasuke on the last mission. The mission details had been sketchy. Also, as far as he knew, Kakashi was the only one who knew how intimate the two shinobi had once been with each other, and was thus was even more greatly disturbed to have read that Sasuke had apparently tried to kill Naruto again, though Kakashi was clearly unaware of the true situation that was going on between the two.

If Kakashi ever got the opportunity, he would make sure that Sasuke never got the chance to even think about trying to kill Naruto. Sasuke may have been his former pupil, but Naruto was his nephew. He would do anything to protect him. _Anything_.

* * *

As usual, being reunited with Orochimaru was never a pleasant experience for Sasuke. However, as he lay on his bed in his new hideout (after Orochimaru had jokingly asked him not to blow this new room to smithereens), he felt as though he had overlooked something in his plan. He was getting much closer to his goal. He would kill Orochimaru, and then he would be able to round up a team of people – Naruto included - into a fighting force that would be able to _finally_ defeat Itachi.

But why did he as though someone else wanted him dead all of a sudden? And why did this new feeling make him feel as though he had overlooked something very important, something that may be the difference between life and death?

Next Chapter: Restless Problems

:-) Hmmm...what is Kakashi plotting to do to Sasuke if he sees him next? Something that neither Naruto nor Sasuke will like, I can tell you that much. Please review and let me know what you thought. Hate it? Love it? Confused? Let me know! - Jelp


	17. Chapter 17: Restless Problems

:-( My computer is sick, aka, it has _**TWO**_ viruses. Thankfully the anti-virus protection prevented it from deleting all my files, but I'm still wary about using my computer in case it infects my flash drives, and then screws up other people's computers. I've been hijacking someone else's a few minutes here and there, so, sadly, updates will be longer in coming. Sorry about the delay.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't download AMVs from unknown sources.

Oh, and enjoy the chapter!

**Restless**

**Chapter 17: Restless Problems**

"Again," Kakashi's voice rang out, but Naruto only barely registered what his sensei was saying. His head was spinning, and he felt utterly exhausted. Still, it did not stop Naruto from standing up, and trying again. He had managed to complete the first stage of training in a matter of hours - something that Kakashi informed him should have taken months, but this second stage, creating his own version of rasengan was dragging out.

Seven weeks had gone by since he had begun training, and Naruto was continuously and continuously training. He was getting better at combining his wind chakra within the swirling ball of his rasengan, but it just wasn't how he wanted it. Something about it felt off - felt too unstable, yet he continued to work with it, trying to get it more powerful.

One of the good things about practicing perfecting the rasengan with his mass clone jutsu was that his chakra reserves were steadily increasing. Naruto felt an increase in power with everything he did. His body was becoming more and more used to massive amounts of chakra coursing through his body, and though the feeling was exhilarating, it tended to be extremely exhausting.

Naruto gave Kakashi-sensei a slight nod as he got up off of where he had been lying utterly fatigued on the ground, and made the hand-seals for tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu.

"If he were doing this without kage bunshin, it would have taken him years to get to this point," Yamato said, as he sat on the ground, doing his best to keep alert to help keep Naruto on task, and to help control Naruto if the Kyuubi was released.

"Yes," Kakashi murmured. There was silence for a few minutes before Yamato spoke again.

"As you requested, I submitted the information to the council for review several weeks ago. They have finally gotten back to me. Before they even bother to test Naruto to see if he is Yondaime's son, or to see if Naruto is Kyohaku's grandson, they're having me double check and see if Kyohaku is related to Yondaime first. The council requested that I discuss this "new piece of information" about this discovery that "I" made with you first, to gauge your reaction. They clearly don't realize that you already know about your father's past lover. Though I think the council is being a bit naïve, I think they might truly be concerned about your reaction as well, and how you might take being related to the Yondaime and Naruto," Yamato said.

"The council is biding its time. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the council members, perhaps even all of them, already know that Naruto is Yondaime's son. I think that is why they are doing this round about process," Kakashi sighed.

"Why would the council try and prevent all of Konoha from knowing that Naruto was Yondaime's son?" Yamato asked.

"The Kyuubi naturally," Kakashi said.

"Even so, shouldn't that have made the council want to announce Naruto's heritage even more to help moral? Honestly, knowing that the Yondaime put the Kyuubi vessel into his son would have probably alleviated more tension in the very beginning. So many people thought that Naruto was actually the Kyuubi in human form. If they had known for sure whose child he was, they would have known that that wasn't possible. Plus, those who knew Yondaime knew that he would never have placed anyone in harms way, especially his precious people. Yondaime sealing the Kyuubi inside his son would only mean that he was sure that the beast would no longer be a threat," Yamato argued.

"But the Kyuubi _is_ still a threat," Kakashi murmured, as he watched the lines on the real Naruto's cheek thicken, his nails lengthening ever so slightly. "Naruto! Keep a cool head!" Kakashi ordered. Naruto glanced over at them, his face and hands back to normal.

"I know!" Naruto hollered back.

"I don't disagree with you that the council is taking unnecessary actions, but it would take us longer to try and fight their decision. It's best to just move forward through all the obstacles they throw in our way as quickly as possible. Why do you think I have started this process forward now? I don't expect the council to approve of Naruto over night. This process could still take _years_. I'm not expecting Naruto to jump into the position of the Hokage tomorrow. If we start now, then when his time comes, then perhaps more people will like Naruto," Kakashi said.

"When people give him the chance, he's hard not to like," Yamato said.

"I agree. The council is deliberately giving us these problems to deal with because they dislike Naruto because they don't know him. We'll probably only be running into more problems from here on out, until they give Naruto a chance," Kakashi forewarned.

"True," Yamato said, as a grin spreading across his face, "And you know, just because the council wanted just Kyohaku and Yondaime's relationship to be tested first, doesn't mean that we can't then test Naruto and Kyohaku, and then Naruto and Yondaime's DNA second and third right after," Yamato said, grinning. Kakashi chuckled.

"Finding the loop holes, and exploiting them?" Kakashi asked.

"Just like a good shinobi should," Yamato replied. "I even made an appointment for the three of us to go and see Kyohaku at the daimyo's main house tomorrow morning," Yamato said.

"All three of us?" Kakashi asked, frowning.

"Naturally. I think if it were just me, she'd be a bit more closed mouth. From what I have read from some of your past mission reports, people have a tendency to mistake you for you father," Yamato said.

"That's the reason I didn't want to personally go," Kakashi said, feeling awkward at the idea of meeting the woman that had come before his mother.

"Well, you have to go because it was requested by an anonymous person, and thus assigned to us as a B-Rank mission that Tsunade has personally assigned the three of us," Yamato said grimly.

"I thought you said that you made an appointment. How'd it turn into a B-Rank mission and why would something like that have such a high ranking?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

"I made the appointment before it was assigned to us. Next thing I know, I had to send another message to explain that it was to obtain classified information because Tsunade came to me personally about the mission. I suppose this received a "B-Rank" because it is considered obtaining high class information," Yamato smiled, wryly. Kakashi merely nodded, wondering if Jiraiya or even Tsunade had requested this mission themselves. It would sure help by-pass some of the council from getting in their way. If it was a mission that brought in money, and if the council didn't have a legitimate excuse for declining the mission, then things would go much, much faster.

"I suppose I need to go anyway to give a DNA sample to see if my father was also Yondaime's father, not that I expect anything different," Kakashi said. He fell quiet again, watching Naruto train before speaking a few minutes later. "What are we going to use for Yondaime's DNA?" Kakashi asked. Yamato coughed, as a blush spread across his cheeks.

"Sperm," he said.

"Sperm?" Kakashi questioned, surprised. "Why does the council have the Yondaime's _sperm_ sample?"

Yamato shrugged, clearly just as clueless as Kakashi was as to why the Council had such a personal sample of the Yondaime's DNA. For some reason, besides it being a little gross, the council having Yondaime's sperm sample after sixteen years past his death did not sit well with Kakashi.

It didn't sit well with him at all.

* * *

"I thought Tsunade gave me time off from missions to train," Naruto said, frowning, as he walked with Yamato and Kakashi towards the daimyo's house.

"Even if your body is apt at healing itself, taking a break and helping out Konoha isn't a bad thing, is it?" Kakashi asked.

"I never said I didn't want the mission," Naruto muttered, putting his hands behind his head and looking off to the side. "It is nice to enjoy seeing Konoha, and of course to help out," Naruto mused as he looked around him, the sun shining down happily upon the three of them.

It had been a strange morning for Naruto. He had gotten up early, as normal, and had gone to the training fields only to find that both Yamato AND Kakashi were already there. Naruto had immediately known that something was off. Not only was Kakashi there already - _he was early_. The two men had proceeded to tell him that they had to do a B-Rank mission. Naruto had been disappointed that he couldn't start training right away, but they assured him it wouldn't take all day. Naruto had been pumped to go on the mission right away so that he could get back to training. He had assumed that they would get right to the mission, and come back right away after they had finished.

He was sorely mistaken.

Naruto had spent the first three hours of his morning being dragged this way and that, off from one place to the other. Yamato and Kakashi had taken him to a bath house. Kakashi had insisted that he be not only clean, but very relaxed as well. Instead, it somehow made Naruto even antsier. After that Kakashi took him to get a haircut. Instead of cutting all of his hair though, the hairdresser had made his hair stick out in different ways, and only trimmed a little here and there. It was actually rather cool looking, but he didn't understand what this had to do with anything.

Kakashi told him it was imperative that for this mission, Naruto look his absolute best. Naruto grumbled that he could just do a henge instead of trying to change him into looking so different. Despite Naruto's grumblings, Kakashi then took him to get new clothes.

It was the clothes store that bothered Naruto the most. He had point blank refused to buy something "nicer" as they had claimed. He had a nice outfit. It was the one that Jiraiya had made him buy because he was sick of him wearing bright orange. Naruto remembered that day because it was the same day that he had gotten glasses (not that he wore those), but every time he wore that one particular "nice outfit", something strange had happened. First he had gotten mauled by girls - and if he had put the pieces together correctly - the next time he had worn it, Sasuke had taken his virginity. Naruto blushed slightly at that thought.

No, his good old orange and black shinobi suit was fine. It had always been fine on other missions, and Naruto didn't see what the big deal was that he wear something different. Naruto only complied to pick something out himself when Kakashi threatened to hand him over to Tsunade to give him a makeover. Naruto had quickly picked out a more traditional black and gray shinobi vest. He even went as far as to return to his house and get his black over coat with the orange flames - though that was partially due to his insistence that he had to wear orange, and he figured he could get by wearing his orange pants if he had his overcoat hanging over top of them.

However, when he had re-emerged from his apartment with his new "style," Kakashi and Yamato finally seemed happy.

"You look exactly like Yondaime," Kakashi said, almost startled.

"Exactly," Yamato said, and the two of them seemed to share a knowing look.

Naruto felt as though he were missing some key point. So what if he looked like Yondaime? It suddenly dawned on him that that was what Kakashi and Yamato had been going for.

So, as Naruto walked along the road, he wondered just what kind of data gathering mission that would require him to "dress-up," as Kakashi put it. Even Kakashi and Yamato seemed more formal than normal.

It made Naruto feel awkward. He didn't like that Kakashi seemed to be trying to turn him into something that he wasn't, and he told Kakashi that.

"What is the point of making me try and look all presentable? I feel like you're embarrassed by how I look," Naruto grumbled, looking down at the dirt road. He didn't like having one of the people that he considered to have accepted him, to now try and change him. Kakashi looked over at Naruto as they walked along.

"Gomen, you're right. I should have explained things more thoroughly. This mission is a bit different than normal missions. In order for it to be as convincing as possible, you need to look like Yondaime," Kakashi explained.

"I'm clearly not Yondaime! I'm way too young, and he was taller. If you wanted me to pretend to be him, I would have just henged into-" Naruto began angrily.

"Iie. We just need you to look similar to him. You don't need to pretend to be him at all. In fact, act yourself. It's just the initial outward shock value that we were going for," Kakashi tried explaining. "You know we wouldn't want you to pretend to be anything you're not," Kakashi said gently. Naruto grumbled something incoherently, but was at least pleased to know that they weren't unhappy with him. He had tried so long to fit in, and now that he had friends, he wasn't about to go and change himself. He was rather proud of who he was.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, you haven't told me about this mission," Naruto complained, looking at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye, accusatorily.

"Well, we're going to see if the daimyo's eldest daughter might have been the Yondaime's mother. Yondaime was thought to be an orphan, like you, but it's possible that he was just given up for adoption because his mother and father were too young to keep him. We need to speak with her, and discuss if she ever had a baby, and if so, what he looked like at birth, where she gave him up for adoption, and other necessary details. We'll also probably be getting a blood sample from her," Kakashi explained.

"Yondaime was an orphan like me?" Naruto questioned, semi-dazed. He liked knowing that his hero was an orphan like him, but it saddened him at the same time. Being an orphan was not something that one wished for, nor wished upon others. During his childhood, Naruto had thought a lot about what had happened to his parents to make him an orphan. He assumed that they were killed in the Kyuubi attack, but of course, there was not way to be sure about that. He felt bad for the Yondaime that he had never gotten a chance to meet his mom. Then again...

"That was mean of her, if she did give him up," Naruto decided. Kakashi turned to look at Naruto.

"Oh?" Kakashi prompted.

"Un. Why would you give a way someone precious to you? If she's the daimyo's daughter, shouldn't she have been able to afford to keep a baby?" Naruto asked.

"Well, she could have been afraid for him. Maybe she thought that someone would hurt him if he stayed with her. You don't know what she could have been the reason until we talk to her. She might not even be Yondaime's mother," Kakashi reminded Naruto.

"Yeah, I know. Just thinking out loud," Naruto said, as his eyes locked upon the enormous house on the hill in front of them. "That place is huge!" Naruto remarked. As they neared, they nodded to the men standing guard, clearly not shinobi, but trained men nonetheless. The guards let them pass, clearly expecting their visit.

The house of the daimyo was exceptionally large. There were gardens as soon as one entered the front gate, and there were lots of people milling about, doing this and that. Naruto was almost sure he saw that poor cat that every genin had probably had to try and capture run by, but he wasn't sure. There were even children running about in the gardens, laughing and playing games. Naruto couldn't help but smile at all the activity. A strange sensation washed over Naruto, a feeling of warmth, and familiarity, but he knew for sure he had never been here before, but for some reason, the people looked familiar. If he had bothered to look closely, he would have seen that the reason they looked familiar was because they looked a little like him.

The people standing about stared at the trio, and Naruto felt oddly aware of his attire, and the way that his hair fell on the side of his face. A few people openly pointed at him, while others shook their heads.

"...couldn't be..." Naruto thought he heard someone say.

"Is it just me, or is that kind of awkward all of a sudden?" Naruto asked as the many people that had been outside on such a nice day began to crowd around them. Off to the side, Naruto recognized the daimyo's plump daughter-in-law, squishing her poor cat.

Naruto looked up at the front of the house in time to see a thin, elderly man come running down to greet them. He looked like he was in his eighties, but he was bouncing around like an eight year old.

"Welcome my friends! I am Lord Sen Shinkan, but please call me Sen-san; I like the way it rolls off of people's tongues! We received a message from Yamato-san," at this, Yamato nodded, "that told me that you wished to speak to my lovely daughter. Please come in, and make yourselves at home," the old man, who was clearly the daimyo said jovially. Naruto looked at him.

"That guy sure has a lot of energy for such an old man," Naruto mused. Kakashi and Yamato exchanged looks. Naruto noticed this, and frowned at them. "What's going on that you're not telling me?" Naruto asked as he, Yamato, and Kakashi walked up the front steps, and ignored the people that seemed to have gathered around them. Kakashi looked as though he were debating with himself, before speaking.

"Naruto, have you ever thought about where you get all your ene-" but Kakashi didn't get to finish saying what he was going to. The daimyo had reappeared again, bubbly and full of energy as he led them into a small room. There was a woman who appeared to be in her early forties, but Kakashi knew that she was older. She sat at a small table. She was mid-size, and had beautiful long, blonde hair that swept down her back in braids. Her eyes were bright blue, and she seemed both child-like and wise at the same time.

After noticing the woman's appearance, Naruto looked around the room, noting that it was clearly often used for small negotiation talks, and the daimyo must have wanted to make the setting more formal since this had been an assigned shinobi mission. Kyohaku's eyes seemed to widen slightly when she saw Kakashi, and then even more so when her gaze fell upon Naruto, but other than that, she remained silent.

"This is my lovely daughter, Kyohaku. She is fifty-six, single, and has no children. If you know anyone who might want to marry her, please let me know," Sen-san said happily. Sen Kyohaku blushed at his comment, but said nothing. "I must admit I'm slightly curious as to why the Hokage sent a team of shinobi out to speak with my daughter. Yamato-san, you said that the information was very important, but I don't understand what warranted this sudden interest. Also, Kyohaku could have always gone into Konoha to meet with you," the daimyo said, clearly miffed by the going ons in Konoha.

"I'm sure your daughter will inform you of everything that transpires here," Kakashi said kindly. The daimyo hovered in the doorway, as though hoping to find out what was going on, but when seeing that he was not invited, bowed jovially and closed the door.

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"Your father clearly worries about you. I'm sure he would not have personally escorted us down here otherwise. He must have been checking us out to make sure that we would not hurt you," Kakashi said gently, as he walked over to the closed door. He raised his fist, and banged on the door once, loudly.

There was an "eeep" sound from the other side of the door; it was quite obvious that the daimyo had had his ear to the door, trying to listen in on the conversation. There was a curse, and then a mumbled "fine, I'm leaving" before Naruto heard the sound of footsteps heading away from the room. Kyohaku smiled sheepishly.

"My father means well," Kyohaku spoke gently.

"Most parents do," Kakashi said, looking at her. Kyohaku met his gaze, with a sort of sorrow and pain etched deep within.

There was another awkward silence in the room, and Naruto looked back and forth between Kakashi and Kyohaku. He scratched his chin in thought.

"Have you two met before, because I feel like I'm missing something. I feel like I've been lost the entire day, actually," Naruto said loudly, hoping to get a reaction out of somebody. No one moved. Naruto sighed, exasperated. Kyohaku sighed as well, though a lot more gracefully. She sat down at the table, and invited the others to do so as well. No one spoke for a full minute, Naruto looking around at everyone as everyone else avoided looking at anybody.

Kakashi was lost in thought. He had thought that helping Naruto find out his heritage would be a good way for him to get into a politically good position as Hokage, but Kakashi had failed to think about how it would affect himself personally. He hadn't realized a strange sort of anger would well up once he met Kyohaku. She was not his mother, but everything about her seemed to scream at him that she was very close to her. It was obvious that Kakashi's father had always had a similar taste in women because this woman not only looked, but even sounded a little bit like his mother.

Kakashi felt his anger wash away. He wasn't even mad at Kyohaku, just at the fact that he felt as though if he had known that he had had an older brother, that maybe his father's death wouldn't have hurt him so much. He had lost his father, his best friend, and then he had lost his sensei, who had turned out to be none other than his brother. He was sure of it now. Not that Kakashi had ever felt that he himself would need a blood test to prove it, but sitting here, in front of this woman, Kakashi was sure of everything.

Kyohaku was Yondaime's mother. Yondaime was his half-brother. Yondaime was Naruto's father. Naruto was his nephew and Kyohaku's grandson. End of story.

"Ano...aren't we supposed to be asking questions?" Naruto asked Kakashi, feeling even more awkward by the minute.

"Naruto's right, Kakashi-san," Yamato said, and Naruto nearly jumped. Yamato had seemed to fade into the background amidst the tension between Kakashi and Kyohaku that he had forgotten that he was even there. Kakashi seemed to snap out of it. He swallowed any strange feelings he had, and decided on focusing on helping Naruto.

"Within the shinobi village, there had always been a connection between-"

"Please just say it," Kyohaku said quietly interrupting Kakashi. "Please don't dance around what you came here for. I know who you are, Hatake Kakashi, which is why I have a feeling what you're looking for," Naruto shifted slightly, feeling a bit impolite. No one had bothered to introduce themselves properly. One thing that Naruto always prided himself on was to make sure people knew who he was. He had completely forgotten, but apparently, Kyohaku seemed to at least know Kakashi though they had apparently never met before. Though Naruto hadn't yet decided if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

"I am not here to judge you on your past. I'm looking for information to help someone else. I know that you and my father were once romantically involved," Kakashi ignored the small gasp that had come from Naruto, "and that you and he had a son that you gave up for adoption. I know you were young at the time, and I'm _astounded_ that you were able to hide your pregnancy from everyone, because it seems quite clear that your father doesn't know that you ever had a child," Kakashi paused. "Did you ever have any idea what happened to your son?" Kakashi asked. Kyohaku shook her head no, tears welling up in her eyes.

"He was the most beautiful little baby. I didn't know what to do. I was so scared. I had just turned fifteen, and I had wanted to keep him, I did! But I was just too scared. The first shinobi wars had just died down, but there were new threats popping up all over the place. I..." her voice trailed off through her sobbing. "I had no excuse really. No matter how many times I thought about it, I felt like I had no excuse for giving him up. I regret it everyday. I always wondered what happened to him. If he was okay, if the family he went to loved him as much as I do. What is he doing now? Is he married? Does he have children? Is he even still alive?" Kyohaku said, as she voiced the many questions and fears in her mind.

"Unfortunately, we believe your son passed away about sixteen years ago," Yamato said quietly. Kyohaku looked at Yamato, in a state of shock and horror. She licked her lips and nodded, as though trying to process this new piece of information, clearly hurtful, but not all together unexpected.

"But, but! He died bravely! We think he was the Yondaime. He died to save everyone's lives by sealing away the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Naruto said, trying to say something to make Kyohaku feel proud of her son. Naruto couldn't help but feel bad for the woman in front of him, and he wanted so badly to try and help her, even if it meant dragging himself through the gutter. He knew how much people hated the Kyuubi, but she had to know, didn't she?

"We would like to take a DNA sample to see if you are related to Yondaime," Kakashi said. "I'm here obviously to see if my father's DNA matches up. And then," Kakashi said, turning to look at Naruto, "we're going to test and see if Naruto here is Yondaime's son," he turned to look at Kyohaku, who's face registered the implications of this fact after a moment, "and your grandson." Kakashi looked at the comprehension dawn on Naruto's face, before:

"NANI?!?!?!"

* * *

"No, no, more _spicessss_, lessssss garlic," Dokueki hissed as her head poked out from being wrapped around Sasuke's shoulder.

"I'm not a chef," Sasuke gritted out, as he did as Dokueki told him, as he put more spices into the cooking pot.

"Well if you don't like my directionssss, the next time you spy on what the cook makessss in order to poison Orochimaru," Dokueki whined.

"Hopefully there won't be a next time," Sasuke said irritably.

"Well then get hissss favorite dish right. You'll only get on time to poison the snake sannin before he throwssss you out on your asssss or killssss you," Dokueki warned darkly.

"How's that?" Sasuke asked coldly twenty minutes later after he had finished preparing the food.

"Smellssss great," Dokueki said, her tongue hissing out as if to taste the air.

"It's been cooked, so you can put your venom in it now," Sasuke said.

"Why? You already have some in that vial you've been carrying around for agessss," Dokueki said. Sasuke reached into his pocket, and pulled out the vial that held the milky, white liquid.

"This," Sasuke said, indicating the vial, "is to be used on Naruto." Dokueki frowned.

"I still don't get it. Do you want to kill, or do you want to fuck him?" Her eyes narrowed. "Or are you one of those Necrophilie who get off on having sex with dead people?" Her eyes widened. "That'ssss it, isn't it? You're gonna kill him and then screw him! Eww, you're-"

"This is just in case," Sasuke said.

"You're not right in the head," Dokueki muttered. Sasuke grabbed her around the neck, and snapped her off of his neck. He pushed his hand up against the roof of her mouth over top of the pot, milking out the white venom. He did it so fast, that she didn't even have time to protest until she was properly back on his neck. "Point proven," she muttered.

"Be quiet, or I won't let you watch me kill Orochimaru," Sasuke said.

"Big whoop. Feed him poison and he fallssss over dead," Dokueki muttered.

"Fine then," Sasuke said, reaching to pull Dokueki off of him again.

"I'll behave!" Dokueki promised, wrapping tighter around Sasuke.

"Then let's have dinner," Sasuke said, smirking. Dokueki looked at the slightly deranged smile that had appeared on Sasuke's face. Any smile was rare, but this particular smile sent shivers from her head to the tip of her tail.

"You really have problemssss," Dokueki muttered.

Next Chapter: Restless Deaths

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry not much action, but I'm getting out those pesky little details important to the plot.

Reviews are always lovely, especially since I'm having problems with my computer right now. :'( Stupid viruses. Thank God for anti-protection software. If I didn't have it, this virus would have wiped out all my files. All my fics would have been gone! You see, if I have good ideas, like major plot bunnies, I write them out and save them, and then copy and paste them later. That would not have been good. Thankfully I back most things up too, but still. Ah well. Hope you liked it. - Jelp


	18. Chapter 18: Restless Deaths: Part 1

Sorry for the wait. Thanks for being patient.

As some of you will note, this story is no longer following cannon at this point. Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 18: Restless Deaths: Part 1**

"He's eating the poisoned dish and nothing issss happening!" Dokueki squeaked from her hiding place under Sasuke's tunic. Sasuke ignored her. Not that he could have answered anyway because that would have been a bit of a give away if he did. Still, he didn't need her telling him what was happening. He wasn't stupid, and he had obviously noticed that Orochimaru had yet to keel over.

Sasuke sat at the small table, taking quiet sips from his own, non-poisoned stew, keeping his face impassive as he watched the snake-sannin out of the corner of his eye. Sasuke noticed that Kabuto kept on sending searching glances between himself and Orochimaru, clearly suspecting something. He had a feeling that everyone at the table already knew what was going on - Kabuto wouldn't be so openly looking back and forth otherwise. It was obvious he wanted Sasuke to know he knew something was up.

"Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said silkily, turning to face Sasuke, "you should try some of this." Orochimaru offered Sasuke a bite of the poisoned stew that Sasuke had prepared for him personally. Sasuke didn't even hesitate before putting down his own spoon and reaching out to take the spoon offered to him. He knew that Orochimaru had caught on to him and was testing to see if he would eat it. Kabuto looked at Sasuke, a smug look on his face as though he too knew what Sasuke had been plotting. His eyes flashed in sadistic glee that Sasuke had been caught.

Sasuke took the spoon, put it close to his mouth, and promptly flung the hot contents back into Orochimaru's eyes.

"Gaaah!" Orochimaru screamed in pain. Before anyone else could move, Sasuke took his unused chopsticks and flung them at Kabuto, both chopsticks piercing the medical-nin's throat. Kabuto spluttered and gasped, clutching at his throat before collapsing onto the floor. Sasuke had no time to register this though, as Orochimaru had sent a fireball in the spot that he had just been sitting. Sasuke did a back flip, putting his hands on the back of the chair, flipping it around with him as he landed, then proceeded to fling the chair towards Orochimaru, followed immediately by one of his own fire techniques.

"Katon! Ryuka no jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, firing an even larger and more powerful fire blaze back at Orochimaru, the flames catching the wooden chair in its path. It splintered and blazed apart with the impact at which the fireball had hit it, its flaming shards bursting in all directions.

"Too hot! Too warm! Not thissss warm!" Dokueki hissed as Orochimaru fired another fire attack in their direction. Sasuke continued to ignore Dokueki as he dashed out of the small dining hall, his hand gripping the edge of the doorframe. He used it to help whip his entire body to the right out of the immediate danger of any attacks that came through the door. Sasuke could hear the crackling of the roaring fire their fire attacks had started in the dining hall as he saw Orochimaru come charging out of the room after him. Orochimaru sent kunai flying off in all directions, one of them just whizzing by Sasuke who had pressed himself flat against the wall. Sharingan blaring, with one finger, Sasuke caught another kunai mid flight through the hole on the end, twirled it once, and threw it back at Orochimaru, missing his body; it merely grazed by, cutting off a few strands of the snake-sannin's hair.

Sasuke's hand shot to his weapon's pouch. He threw two ninja star at Orochimaru. Orochimaru smirked as he used one of the kunai he was going to throw to easily deflect the stars, one to the right, the other to the left. Sasuke smirked, his hands moving likes blurs as he threw two more ninja stars at the two that Orochimaru had deflected, hitting each one dead on, and once again sending them sailing back towards Orochimaru, but now coming at him from both sides instead of straight on. Orochimaru cursed as he deflected one, but could not turn around in time to deflect the second that hit his arm.

In the split second it took Orochimaru to examine the damage to his arm, Sasuke had sent a kunai with an exploding tag on it towards Orochimaru's stomach. The snake sannin dodged it by hopping backwards out of the way, but the tag exploded, sending debris and rocks flying. Part of the cave began to collapse as more rocks fell from the ceiling, the blast creating smoke and dust to fly. Sasuke coughed heavily, covering his mouth at the amount of dust the blast had created as he turned and ran.

Within a few moments, Sasuke could no longer hear Orochimaru cursing from the other side of the debris as he ran for his bedroom, his expression never changing, his face as impassive as ever. He idly heard Dokueki's hysterical ramblings as he turned a corner.

"-almost died - totally recklesssss - no respect for my nervessss - still could die -"

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed as he skidded to a halt outside his room, only to see Orochimaru standing there. Orochimaru sent a rapid jet of water at him, Sasuke unable to completely dodge it, his left pant leg catching the majority of the blast, but Sasuke could still feel the heat of the boiling water that grazed him stinging like a cut. Orochimaru opened his mouth wide, preparing for his next attack. Seeing it with his sharingan before it actually came out, Sasuke easily avoided the sword that had emerged from Orochimaru's mouth.

He drew a kunai, and banged down hard on the sword with it, the clanging noise echoing in the cavern as he saw Orochimaru gag on the unwelcome vibrations. Sasuke slammed his fist into Orochimaru's face, sending Orochimaru's cheek into his own sword, his blood splattering onto the arm Sasuke held up to protect himself from the blood spray.

Sasuke darted into his room, and grabbed his faithful sword, Kusanagi, but next minute having to jump as Orochimaru had darted his long neck inside the room after him, trying to bite at Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he saw that Orochimaru had mutated himself into a giant snake. Glaring at the sannin, he jumped to avoid the tail that whipped towards him, noting that Orochimaru's humanly features were practically all gone. A man no longer stood to fight Sasuke, but instead, a mutated human in snake form, the form that kept Orochimaru alive. His scales were as deathly white as his skin had been.

"Ewww..." Dokueki hissed as she peaked her head out of Sasuke's tunic, disgusted at her first glimpse of seeing Orochimaru as a giant serpent, his head the only thing now akin to a human. Plenty knew that Orochimaru kept himself alive by taking over another's body, but very few knew that his other attempts at mortality had mutated him beyond humanity's features. However, not only had he mutated his original body, but his soul as well, therefore whichever body he resided in ended turning more and more serpent like the longer he resided within it.

Instead of going towards Sasuke, Orochimaru struck his strong, whip-like tail at the ceiling, causing rocks and what not to shower down upon Sasuke.

Sasuke emerged from the rocks, but his skin was no longer pale white, nor was his hair ebony black; he had activated the curse seal, and the bluish-purple tinge to his wild hair, and his skin that had a bizarre brownish-purple tint gave him a monstrous look. Wings had sprouted from his back which managed to shield him from the attack. He stood up, pushing the debris off of him, and then proceeded to stretch them to their full length, his curse seal blaring in second stage.

"You were foolish to think that you could ever defeat an Uchiha," Sasuke said, raising his sword above his head, jumping high, and then using his wings to soar towards Orochimaru, taking one swipe, severing the snake-sannin's head and upper half from the rest of the scaly white body.

"This…is not...over..." Orochimaru hissed, his severed body thrashing about wildly as his words came out in pathetic gasps.

"Oh, I think you'll find it is," Sasuke said, his eyes emotionless as he watched the pathetic form below him. Orochimaru's yellow eyes widened, as though realizing something terrible. Sasuke took his sword again, slashing the head clean off. Orochimaru's head thrashed about a few more moments before going still, his eyes wide, sightless, his long tongue lapping helplessly before finally falling still, his mouth hanging open wide as though the hinges of his jaw were stuck there.

"That'ssss right Sasuke! You did it!" Dokueki practically squealed, emerging from her hiding spot around his waist as Sasuke deactivated his seal, her head and tail both poking out from underneath his tunic. "Give him thissss!" She jabbed her tail wildly about, as though punching an opponent with it, "And that!" She snapped her jaws as though she could destroy her imaginary foe with her teeth.

"Amusing," Sasuke drooled, watching her antics before pulling an empty vial from within his shirt. He walked over to the enlarged and snake-like version of Orochimaru's now severed head. He reached into the sannin's open mouth, and placed the vial against Orochimaru's gums as a gooey substance dripped from his teeth.

"Grosssss!" Dokueki said, disgusted, as Sasuke milked the gooey venom from Orochimaru's fangs. "Hissss breath stinkssss," Dokueki said, her voice slightly muffled having put her tail in front of her nostrils and mouth to avoid the rancid smell.

Sasuke placed the stopper back atop the vial and pocketed it.

"I had a feeling that Orochimaru would be at least partially immune to your venom," Sasuke began to explain things to Dokueki, "but it had the desired effect anyway." Sasuke grabbed a small knapsack he had packed before going to dinner that had managed to escape the destruction of his room, save for a stray rock that was leaning up against it. Sasuke kicked the rock aside with his foot, grabbing the knapsack with the few things he treasured, and then proceeded to head out of what had been his room; another one blasted to bits.

"The poison had a desired effect? What effect? He still chased you down!" Dokueki said as she moved her tail away from her nose as the smell had wafted away for the most part, though a small portion still lingered on Sasuke's clothes.

"Orochimaru could not use his body transfer jutsu," Sasuke further explained. "Didn't you see him? Even after I had cut off his head it was as though he was going to try and take over my body still. Your venom prevented that."

"Wait just a minute! You mean from the beginning you knew that he wassss not going to just keel over after my poison was put into hissss stew?" Dokueki asked, incredulously.

"There was always a possibility, but I highly doubted it. He is a snake-sannin after all. It would have been rather stupid of him not to have made himself immune to most poisons," Sasuke said logically.

"Why the hell didn't you warn me? I wouldn't have come along if I had known I would have to be hiding under your shirt to avoid fireballssss and boiling jetssss of water coming at me," Dokueki hissed angrily.

"I could have, but this way you won't be bugging me about all the details later on," Sasuke said, his voice indicating just the slightest hint of amusement.

"I hate you. You are a cold, arrogant bastard who issss a total prick and-" Dokueki continued to tell him what he was, but he completely ignored her. Sasuke walked back towards the dining area. The entrance was now partially hidden by the rock clutter from the earlier battle. Sasuke climbed atop of it from the side, and slid down the middle of it towards the doorway, catching his balance by grasping the top of the doorframe. He hopped inside, easily jumping over the few rocks that had actually slid into the dining room. "What, aren't we leaving?" Dokueki asked.

"Need to do a few things first," Sasuke said as he walked over to where Kabuto was lying on the floor, and pointed his sword at Kabuto. Kabuto laid sprawled out on the floor, his glasses askew and practically hanging off his nose. "I know you're still alive," Sasuke growled. Kabuto opened his eyes, but he did not turn to face Sasuke, though he wore a scowl across his face.

"Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked, and Sasuke didn't need him to elaborate to understand the underlying question.

"Dead, of course," Sasuke said, pointing the sword at Kabuto again.

"Come back to kill me then?" Kabuto asked with a sneer.

"No. Obviously you've noticed that those chopsticks I threw at you had a paralyzing poison on their tips."

"Yes. Clever, sneaking them in before dinner. It clearly effects merely certain nerves and not the muscles because I can still speak," Kabuto said airily.

"It would be like you analyze the poison's medical properties, but no matter. No, I am not going to kill you because you are going to come with me and help me defeat Itachi," Sasuke said.

"What?" Kabuto asked, surprised.

"Him?" Dokueki said, also surprised. Kabuto glared at her as best he could with the limited mobility that he had.

"Yes. From what I understand, you have been concocting some sort of potion, medicine, vaccine, or whatever you like to call it for Orochimaru to do that body transfer and make the transfer permanent," Sasuke said, remembering what Dokueki had told him the very same day that Naruto had come for him.

"What about it?" Kabuto asked warily.

"You're going to bring it with you, of course," Sasuke murmured.

"Why? What is it to you?" Kabuto demanded. Sasuke chuckled softly as a sudden chill seemed to radiate through the room. Dokueki actually loosened herself from Sasuke who seemed to be radiating the coldness.

"None of your concern," Sasuke said, his voice dangerously low. Reaching into his weapons pouch, Sasuke drew out another chopstick, and rammed it into Kabuto's shoulder. Kabuto would have cried out in pain - if he could have felt it.

"You really do have a bad habit of ramming your pointy thingssss where ever you like," Dokueki muttered to herself.

"That chopstick had the antidote on it to the previous drug. You can move again now, so do so. Get up and go to your lab," Sasuke ordered Kabuto pointing his sword at him. "Get your medical things. We're leaving."

[AN: Just as an FYI, I wasn't trying to make Orochimaru sound like Voldemort for all of you Harry Potter fans out there; Orochimaru really does look like a snake because of all the attempts he tried with immortality. I wonder if Masashi Kishimoto got the idea from J.K. Rowling.

* * *

"Nani?" Naruto repeated, looking at Kakashi who had just said that he was going to be tested to see whether or not he was the Yondaime's son, and this woman's grandson. Naruto looked up at Kyohaku, a mixture of shock and incredulity flashing across his features. Kyohaku, on the other hand, remained completely and utterly motionless in her shock. 

Kakashi sighed, looking at his student. He really should have warned Naruto, but he knew Naruto; Naruto would forgive him in the end.

"It appears that we may be related," Kakashi said quietly, a small smile gracing his features, his eyes wrinkling happily at Naruto. Naruto could merely stare at him opened mouthed. Kakashi continued to explain. "You see, I found a note from my father, Hatake Sakumo, not too long before I became the sensei of Team seven. It indicated that I had a half brother, and all evidence suggested that he was Yondaime. Naturally I had mixed feelings on the subject. I was happy that I had an older brother, and that I at least knew him to some degree, but I felt slightly cheated that I was not able to spend more time with him, especially as brothers," Kakashi paused, looking at Naruto to see his reaction. Naruto just stared back, looking entrapped in his story.

"When I began doing research into his past, I found some curious information that indicated that he had a secret lover, as well as a son that very few knew about. For some time I have been gathering data that leads me to suspect you, but it is inconclusive. Naturally, from what I know of you, and from what I know of Yondaime, I don't really need DNA proof to know that it's true. However, it is now time to test our DNA anyway, for those who would try and say otherwise," Kakashi said, as he nodded towards Yamato. Yamato pulled out a strange looking device that looked to Naruto like nothing more than a pouch that held long needles, but realized whatever it was holding were not throwing weapons, despite their similarity in shape. He noticed that where the end was, it had a sharp point, but the point had a miniscule hole in it that looked like it would scoop something out – like blood.

"You'll need to give a blood sample first, Kyohaku-san," Yamato said kindly. She seemed to awake from her daze. She had been staring at Naruto the entire time. She nodded and held out her delicate wrist. Yamato took one of the "needle" looking items, and pricked a small amount from her finger before placing it back into its holder. It was then that Naruto noticed that Yamato had also pulled out a white box-line piece of equipment. Yamato took the needle, placing the end with the blood into a small hole in the box. The little instrument shaped like a white box began to buzz. Yamato then took blood from Kakashi, and finally Naruto. He also pulled out a little bottle that had some liquid in it. He dipped another one of the needle instruments into it, then placed it dripping end down into another one of the small holes.

Naruto watched as Yamato pushed the little buttons on the white box, looking back at Kakashi and Kyohaku in a stupor. He couldn't think of anything to say, and he couldn't decide if he should be happy or not at this new revelation about finding out that he had a family, so instead remained silent.

The white box let out a long beep. Yamato glanced down at the small screen, nodding at it.

"Yondaime was indeed Kyohaku and your father's son," Yamato said, looking at Kakashi who merely nodded, "naturally Yondaime was therefore your brother, but as for Naruto," Yamato said, frowning at the information on the screen strangely.

"Nani?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"It isn't giving a reading for your blood," Yamato said.

"What?" Kakashi said, looking over at the white box, as though he didn't believe it. Naruto even leaned over, but he didn't understand what the display meant, so didn't know what to read for the information.

Something flashed across the screen, and both Yamato and Kakashi who were looking at it, narrowed their eyes at it. Naruto tried to glance at the screen again, but the small display was completely blank.

"Damn it," Yamato said.

"They expected something like this," Kakashi sighed.

"Huh?" Naruto said, confused, eagerly wanting to know his own results, anger forgotten, replaced by a desperate need to just _know_. "B-but, why won't it work for me?" Naruto demanded.

"The council did not want us to test to see if you were Yondaime's son," Yamato said bitterly.

"We took it upon ourselves to do the extra test. It appears that they were prepared for us to do something likes this," Kakashi said, his voice rising angrily.

"It doesn't matter," Kyohaku said, speaking for the first time, staring at Naruto. "He's my grandson; I can tell. He has the same eyes as my son did. I remember those eyes," Kyohaku said, reaching out across the table, and cupping Naruto's face with her hand. Naruto couldn't say anything, as the feeling of the soft hand on his face gave him a soft squeeze on the cheek. He could feel tears spring to his eyes, and before he could try to wipe them away, Kyohaku had stood up leaning all the way across the table so that she could better reach him, her other hand now on his other cheek, wiping away the few stray tears with her thumbs.

Naruto wanted to be angry. Why had this woman given up his father and made him an "orphan"? Had his grandfather, Kakashi's father even gotten to see Yondaime as a baby? Why had no one told him that the Yondaime was his father before? Why hadn't Kakashi told him that he was his nephew? But, Naruto just could not be angry. The way his face was being held so gently, so motherly, so _lovingly_ made his poor heart, the heart that had longed for a family, longed for someone to love him for so long, just felt overwhelmingly joyful and happy. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around Kyohaku as well.

He felt another hand on his back, and realized it was Kakashi-sensei, no his Uncle Kakashi...

Naruto couldn't remember feeling so connected to another being besides Sasuke, and despite the fact that he should be thinking about his new found family, he couldn't help but think of Sasuke, wishing Sasuke were with him, even though a small part of him felt a little guilty. He had a family now, and Sasuke didn't. Still, he wanted to share this moment with Sasuke too.

The spell of the moment was broken as the door banged open. The three shinobi in the room whipped their heads around, prepared for the worst.

"I have a great-grandson?" Sen-san said, obviously having come back to listen at the door, despite Kakashi having sent him away. He came bouncing in the room and engulfed Naruto in a crushing hug. He then released Naruto who gasped for breath. Sen-san then turned to Kakashi and gave him a bone-crushing hug." And I have my grandson's half brother here too!" The skinny daimyo released Kakashi. Kakashi laughed nervously, though he was once again looking at Naruto, gauging his reaction, waiting for an explosion of anger - happiness - anything, but it didn't come. Naruto was too stunned to do more than rub the back of his head sheepishly.

"Dad, I-" Kyohaku began, her words dying on her lips as her father turned to look at her.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me or your mother, about-" Sen-san waved his hand around, as though trying to find the words in thin air, but couldn't quite finish what he was going to say. He sighed, and shook his head. "I will discuss this with you later. It doesn't matter right now," he said firmly, a smiling lighting up on his face, "I didn't realize I had any great-grandchildren! I have several grandchildren, but you are my first great-grandson. We have much to catch up on!" Sen-san said, grinning broadly at Naruto.

Despite Sen-san's apparent lack of anger at his daughter for hiding that she had a child, Kakashi saw that something had flashed in his eyes at his daughter briefly. It was this fleeting glance that told Kakashi that Kyohaku would be going through an entire interrogation later on. This attitude was not, as it appeared, one of lax acceptance, but rather one who knew that he was in control. Kakashi could tell that the retired daimyo was a powerful man who knew how to use his attitude well. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief, finally feeling like his original idea to get the old daimyo to back Naruto would work after all. His musings were interrupted as he saw Sen-san give Yamato a hug too.

"You seemed left out!" Sen-san said enthusiastically, as Yamato grimaced. Whizzing about, Sen-san grabbed Naruto's hand, and began to tug. "You have many family members to meet, and many lost years to make up for. We should get you acquainted now," Sen-san said happily. Naruto could merely look around at Kakashi for help before he was tugged out the door. Kyohaku reached out her hand, but pulled it back quickly, her father and grandson disappearing before she could say anything. She looked down at her hand.

"I-I had wanted to talk to Naruto-kun myself, alone," she said dejectedly. Then her eyes narrowed, her face set in complete determination. "I better go after them so I don't miss anything more than I already have," she said defiantly, regally floating out of the room.

Kakashi and Yamato were left looking at each other in the small room, both wondering if they should follow.

"Well, that went a little differently than planned," Yamato said awkwardly.

"Just a little."

"Are you okay?" Yamato asked, tentatively.

"Not sure," Kakashi said truthfully. "I'm happy they accepted Naruto so fast," Kakashi said, smiling. Yamato nodded.

"Should we go collect Naruto, and save him from the Sen-san?" Yamato said, a wry smile forming on his lips.

"Nah. He'll love the attention."

* * *

Naruto indeed loved the attention. Everything was a happy blur as he was introduced to many people, most of them he knew he'd never be able to remember their names, but all seemed strangely happy to meet him anyway, some of them murmuring that he looked like so-and-so, a few muttering that he looked like the Yondaime Hokage, some of them simply saying things he didn't understand since they all seemed to be babbling _about him_, _and at him_, all at the same time. Sen-san had taken him outside, and then yelled for everyone's attention as he introduced Naruto as Kyohaku's grandson. Everyone had then mobbed toward him, waiting to meet him. 

"This is your mother's eldest brother. He's currently acting as daimyo head – Sen Shijimi, though since everyone knows me as Sen-san, he goes by Lord Shijimi, and of course, I believe you've met his wife, Madam Shijimi and her cat-" Sen-san was saying.

"And these are your first cousins once removed, Hiroko and Hiroshi-" Kyohaku said, catching up to them, not wanting to be left out, a firm grip now kept on her grandson's arm.

"Your second cousin Yana-"

"Actually Yana would be his first cousin twice removed-"

"Right you are Kyohaku-"

"And this is your great Uncle Kiyoshi and his wife Lady Rieko-"

"And this is another of your first cousins once removed Mura-"

"I'm Mura!"

"Sorry Mura, I meant Miko-"

Naruto's head whirled as he merely smiled at the people. What he did seem to gather was that Kyohaku was one of four children, and that she had six nieces and nephews which made them his father's cousins, and after that, he kind of lost track of all the other cousins and their spouses. He was rather clueless at what the difference between first and second cousins, and why some of them had been removed.

The best part of everything was that they didn't seem to expect him to remember their names, and they were all extremely glad that he was a member of their family. However, it struck Naruto as extremely odd that no one seemed to be surprised that Kyohaku had a random grandson.

"Knew she wasn't a pure as Dad always made her out to be," Shima, another one of his great Uncles had said with a large grin on his face that indicated he was happy rather than annoyed about this fact.

"Izanami!" Sen-san suddenly burst out, looking horrified. Who or what Izanami was, Naruto wasn't sure, but everyone seemed to gasp, and then began running about madly.

"What?" Naruto asked, looking up at Kyohaku, his grandmother (it still felt weird to think of her, let alone call her his grandmother).

"Izanami is my Mom, you great-grandma. The reason that there are so many family members here today is because it's her 80th birthday. We had expected the meeting with the Konoha shinobi, you and your friends, to only last a little while. We're having a surprise party for her. Well, we certainly have a surprise for her," Kyohaku said, smiling as she ruffled Naruto's hair, even though he was slightly taller than she was. "She should be here any time now."

It was then that Naruto realized that the people that he had seen earlier, besides his family members, the extra servants, must have been setting up decorations. Sure enough, as he looked around, he noticed that there were banners and balloons, plus a huge buffet table set-up.

"This day keeps getting more off the wall by the minute," Naruto muttered to himself, thinking about how he first had a random mission, then got a new hair cut, went to the bath house, went clothes shopping, found out that his father was Yondaime Hokage, his grandmother was still alive and happened to be the retired daimyo's daughter, Kakashi was his uncle, or half-uncle or whatever, he had a bazillion and one relatives who only happened to be at his grandmother's and great-grandparents' house because his grandmother happened to be turning 80. To top it off, none of his relatives had seemed the least bit surprised by his sudden addition to the family.

Yes, today had definitely been a strange day.

"Is everything okay?" Kakashi asked as he walked outside with Yamato. "There seemed to be an increase in activity," Kakashi said, looking at Naruto.

"Umm...it's Izanami, my er, great-grandmother's 80th birthday," Naruto said awkwardly.

"I guess we should stay then," Yamato said, as Kakashi nodded.

"I don't think you'll be getting any training in today Naruto," Kakashi said, amused.

"No, I don't think I will be either."

* * *

Naruto was utterly exhausted. He felt even more drained than he sometimes did after a long day of training. The emotional roller coaster ride was not something that he was used to. He stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, wondering if the day had really happened at all. Everything seemed so surreal that he wasn't sure. A warm feeling had swept through him, and he couldn't stop grinning. 

He had a family!

A crazy, bizarre, overly large, hyperactive family, but a family. It had been a little awkward upon leaving when everyone had asked when Naruto would be moving in. Kakashi-sensei had saved him from answering by telling everyone that Naruto was currently in the process of training for an extremely hard mission. Everyone seemed upset, especially his grandmother and great-grandfather, but they also seemed extremely impressed. It was only upon promising that he would visit again, and often, that they allowed him to leave.

Naruto still couldn't quite grasp the idea that Kakashi-sensei was his Uncle. Kakashi had told him he would treat him to lunch tomorrow in order to talk some things over, and Naruto was looking forward to it.

Of course, what had really been boggling Naruto's mind was the fact that he was the Yondaime Hokage's _son_. His hero, the man who had saved the village was _his father_. After learning that it was not just Yondaime, not just any person, but his _father _who had sacrificed himself by sealing the Kyuubi inside of Naruto to save the Village, only strengthened Naruto's desire to become Hokage. He felt as though that was what his father had wanted him to do – to follow in his footsteps and protect Konoha.

Thoughts whirled around Naruto's head, making it nearly impossible for him to go to sleep. Finally, Naruto closed his eyes feeling as though he might be able to drift off to sleep when he first heard the noises outside.

"Fire!"

"Fire - at the old Uchiha complex!"

Naruto's eyes snapped up, and a sudden feeling of dread hit him. That HAD to be Sasuke's signal. Naruto quickly got dressed, and jumped out of his window, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, remembering what Sasuke had said to him. Naruto could see the distant flames flickering against Konoha's night sky. He saw a few more shadowy figures jumping from rooftop to rooftop. It was common knowledge that the shinobi of Konoha were the Village's fire department, so those ninja that could, went to help, though naturally many civilians helped as well - especially those that could lose homes if the fire spread.

"Sasuke you prat - you better hope no one gets hurt from your little stunt," Naruto grumbled to himself as he drew nearer to the flames as the wind blew the smoke towards him, remembering what Sasuke had said to him when he'd last seen him.

_"...I need you to leave me alone until I am ready. Stop coming after me. Wait until I make my move. Then make it seem like you are going to go after me. But not until I make my move," Sasuke said._

_"How will I know what your move is?" Naruto asked in confusion._

_"Even you aren't a big enough dobe to miss it."_

This _had_ to be Sasuke's move. Naruto ran full out, adrenaline pumping as he reached the Uchiha complex. Two of the buildings were on fire, but the flames on what appeared to be a shrine were the highest. Several shinobi had already arrived using what water techniques they could to help douse the flames. Below, he saw a line of civilians passing buckets of water. Naruto jumped down, grabbed one of the buckets, and made his trademark hand seals.

"Tajuu, kage bunshi no jutsu!" Naruto cried as he duplicated himself along with the bucket of water that he held. There was a loud hissing sound as the thousands of Naruto's clones took turns throwing their water buckets upon the burning shrine, dousing its flames down a good deal. However, the shrine as well as the other building that still burned, and it was then that Naruto realized just how powerful fire really was, especially with wind behind it as another gust brought another wave of smoke towards him.

'Sasuke is like fire, and I am like wind. I'll be able to support Sasuke, and make him stronger.' Naruto thought as he dispelled all of his clones, loud popping noises cracking in the night air as he ran in the opposite direction of the fire towards the lake, the bucket still in his hand.

"Naruto!" Naruto heard Sakura call his voice as he ran in the opposite direction, but ignored her as he ran head on towards the lake where he had so often seen Sasuke sitting alone on the dock. Naruto's feet pounded on the ground as the thud of his heart pounded in his ears. He had a feeling he knew where Sasuke would be.

Sure enough, Naruto stopped as he overlooked the lake, seeing the solitary figure sitting on the edge of the dock, just like in their childhood. Naruto ran down the hill and then out onto the pier.

"Sasuke, you prick! People could get hurt," Naruto snarled.

"Don't worry. I secured the area. If anything burns down it will be the complex, which, I happen to own, and I can guarantee you that I will not miss the buildings that are burning. If the fire happens to spread, as I said, the substances I have on the ground will make it so that only Uchiha buildings burn. I took the few things of value to me, so it really doesn't matter what is destroyed," Sasuke said. Naruto narrowed his eyes, glaring at Sasuke, before molding chakra and creating another thousand or so clones. All of them jumped into the lake and grabbed bucketfuls of water. All of the clones concentrated on helping to put out the fire, leaving the original Naruto and Sasuke to glare at each other. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw his clones begin to form an assembly line of sorts.

"I-is this it then?" Naruto asked. "Are you ready for me to come with you now?"

"I wouldn't be here other wise," Sasuke said, his eyes narrowing. Something about the way that Naruto had said "is this it then" had unnerved him. "You sound as though you don't want to leave," Sasuke said, accusingly. Naruto looked away, watching his clones as some were already returning with empty buckets. Instead of all of them going the full way down to the lake though, they were now standing in a line of Naruto clones. Two clones stood side by side - one side the clones had buckets filled with water. The other side had empty buckets being handed back down from the site of the fire to be refilled, while several Naruto clones stood waist deep refilling the empty buckets, and handed them off to be sent to douse out the fire. Sasuke glanced over to appreciate Naruto's efficient use of his clones to put the fire out.

"The fire will be out quickly at this rate. We won't have much time to use it as a distraction for us to leave," Sasuke said, his gaze returning back towards Naruto who was looking down at the pier. "You don't want to leave, do you?" Sasuke said, this time wording his accusation as a question.

"It's not that. It's just-" Naruto said, swallowing. Why did this have to happen now? He had just discovered that he had a family. "I-I found my family," Naruto said, looking up at Sasuke. Sasuke's face remained expressionless.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"My family. I'm related to the Sen family. My great-grandfather is called Sen-san, and my great-grandmother's name is Izanami. My grandmother's name is Kyohaku, and you'll never believe this, but guess what? My father was Yondaime Hokage. Obviously my Dad's dead, but I still have my grandmother, and..." Naruto trailed off, looking at Sasuke's face.

"I-I see," Sasuke said, his eyes adverted from Naruto's. He took a step back, and Naruto felt as though a wall had come up between them with Sasuke's movement. A sinking feeling appeared in Naruto's stomach. He felt as though Sasuke was drawing away from him.

"But of course I'm coming with you!" Naruto said, stepping forward and gripping Sasuke's shoulder as though to prove to himself that there wasn't a barrier between them. "I made a promise to you that I would come with you, didn't I? You know I never go back on promises," Naruto said, trying to smile. Sasuke merely nodded. Naruto's voice became even more serious. "Besides, I need to make sure that Itachi doesn't try and come after me any more, right? I can't have him threatening my family in order to get to me."

Something seemed to spark life back into Sasuke, whose head shot up.

"Yes. We have to stop Itachi from doing to your family what he did to mine," Sasuke said, a determined look in his eyes.

"And no matter what, you're still like a part of my family," Naruto said, his grip on Sasuke's bicep tightening, as he smiled genuinely at Sasuke. A smirk began to spread on Sasuke's face.

"Hn. Seems to me, with the relationship we have, you're more like my wife," Sasuke taunted.

"Hey! I am not a woman!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke remained silent, as the smirk fell from his face, looking back up the hill.

"The fire's practically out," Sasuke said. Naruto turned to look, and indeed could no longer see flames in the distance. "I had expected that to burn for a few more hours," Sasuke murmured worriedly. "Do you trust me?" Sasuke said. Naruto didn't even hesitate to answer.

"I don't know why, but yes, I do teme," Naruto said, cautiously.

"Dispel your clones and follow me," Sasuke demanded before running up back towards his old home.

"Teme! What are you doing? They'll see you!" Naruto hollered as he ran after Sasuke, dispelling his clones as Sasuke said, and running after his friend.

Naruto almost collided into Sasuke who had stopped abruptly. They were relatively close to the Uchiha compound now.

"Good job Naruto," Kakashi's voice rang out, as Naruto could hear his and others footsteps running towards them.

"Teme," Naruto hissed, knowing that the darkness of night would only hide them for so much longer. What was Sasuke playing at?

"You're coming with me whether you like it or not Naruto!" Sasuke yelled loudly, though he wasn't even looking at Naruto. The footsteps that were approaching stopped as Naruto heard the scrape of weapons being pulled out.

"What are you doing?" Naruto hissed. Sasuke didn't bother to answer as he gave a hard jab to Naruto's stomach, hitting him in the exact same spot that Jiraiya had once hit him in in order to make him pass out - which is exactly what Naruto did.

"Naruto!" Someone yelled in distress seeing their friend slump over.

"It's Uchiha Sasuke!" Another voice yelled. Sasuke didn't wait to hear anyone else yell towards them before scooping up Naruto's prone body and dashing off into the night.

* * *

Naruto awoke for the second time in his life to the feeling as though he were flying. And for the second time he was once again coming back to consciousness as he was hanging onto Sasuke's back as Sasuke flew from treetop to treetop. Naruto's eyes hurt as he opened them to the morning light, the prior night's events rushing back to him. 

"Teme! What the hell did you do that for?" Naruto demanded.

"Isn't it obvious? To save your sorry ass from being labeled as a missing nin," Sasuke said.

"Oh," Naruto said. "Thanks." Naruto paused. "You didn't have to hurt anyone to escape, did you?" Naruto asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"I'm sure I left a few people with lovely bruises, but nothing life-threatening," Sasuke reassured Naruto. "Also, this way your family doesn't think that you've abandoned them. I didn't want them to think you had left them, like Itachi left my family," Sasuke said quietly.

"I would never leave my family like Itachi left you, especially not in such a horrible way!" Naruto said indignantly. Sasuke merely shook his head.

"You still would have been leaving them. I'm sure your family will not be happy with me taking you, but I'd rather them think that you were kidnapped, rather than deserting them."

"I'm was never really going to desert them. I'm going to protect them!" Naruto said.

"Yes, but you couldn't tell them that, at least, not yet. You can explain everything when you get back."

"Ano, Sasuke?" Naruto said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"What?"

"I don't think my family will be too pleased with you taking me away..."

"Obviously. What's the point Naruto?"

"My great-grandfather is the retired daimyo. My great uncle is the current daimyo, and uh – I forgot to mention this last night, but, uh, - Kakashi-sensei's my uncle..." Sasuke stopped dead on the next branch.

"So in other words we'll be having even more people chasing after us for you?" Sasuke said, trying hard not to sigh.

"Probably..."

"We'll deal with that later," Sasuke said, as he allowed Naruto to slide off his back so that he could continue on his own.

"I told you, it would be a bigger hassle to go back for him," Kabuto said as he landed lightly on the branch next to them. Naruto blinked once, and then pointed his finger at Kabuto.

"Why the hell did you bring him?"

"That'ssss exactly what I thought..."

* * *

Next Chapter: Restless Deaths: Part 2 

To clarify a few questions that people have asked, as far as the manga and anime goes, Naruto is not in any way related to Kakashi as far as we know, and nothing close to that has been mentioned. All of Naruto's family members are original characters that I made up. Dokueki is another character I made up. Naruto's eyes are in perfect working order as far as I know, and I don't think he was ever raised by Monks, nor was Chinese his first language. Anything else you want clarity on – let me know.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you thought! - Jelp


	19. Chapter 19: Restless Deaths: Part 2

Sorry for not getting this out sooner. I wanted to make sure that I had chapter 20 almost completed before posting so I could post that with a day or so later. When you get to the end – well, I think you'll see why.

I was looking through my chapters, and I could have sworn I had mentioned this earlier, but apparently not: go check out lL0tus's fics on especially "Cat's Bell: My Pleasurable Doll." Also check out MissMayumi's "Doggy Style" on Thanks for dedicating it to me MissMayumi::feels special::

Also, remember what I said about not following the manga any longer? Well, I couldn't help but put a few spoilers in here from 367. I can't seem to get away from it. :-) Enjoy!

**Restless**

**Chapter 19: Restless Deaths Part II**

"That is unacceptable!" Sen-san yelled, slamming his fist down onto the table. Tsunade looked livid at his gesture, and a vein throbbed in her temple.

"As I told you last night, at the moment, we are unaware of where they are heading, or what Sasuke's intentions are with Naruto," Tsunade said through gritted teeth. Kakashi stood beside the Godaime Hokage's desk, clenching and unclenching his fist, silently agreeing with Sen-san that the situation seemed unacceptable because Naruto was not safe, but his years of shinobi training told him that all resources had been put into play. Yamato, as well as Sakura and Sai, were waiting to be sent out, just as he was, as soon as they got word back from the group that was currently tracking Naruto. Kakashi turned to look at his team, knowing that they were just as worried about Naruto as he was, everyone hoping that news of his whereabouts would come back quickly.

Both Sakura and Sai had been shocked - or at least, Kakashi thought Sai's features might have been an attempt to show shock - that Naruto had found his family, and even more astounded to find out that he, himself was Naruto's uncle. They were all there, ready to go, but no matter how much the four of them wanted to leave, they wouldn't be able to help Naruto much until Tsunade gave the order. It was difficult for them all to just sit around and wait, and Kakashi felt an extra jab of sympathy for Sakura who had been present and involved in trying to get Naruto away from Sasuke. Fighting her ex-teammate in order to get back her current teammate had clearly torn her heart, but her resolve was clearly for helping Naruto first. He felt an extra surge of liking for her for her difficult choice between the boy that she had claimed to love for so long and the boy that she had once hated, and now seemed to have taking a better liking to.

Kakashi sighed, knowing that he needed to focus on what was going on at the moment instead of reflecting on Sakura's change of heart. He had a duty to back Tsunade's decisions and should thus be paying attention to what was said and also add words of comfort to assure the Sen family that Tsunade was indeed doing everything possible. He knew that the Sen family would take his word over Tsunade's that she was doing everything she could in order to help because they probably looked at him for having similar interests in finding Naruto, being his uncle and all.

Kakashi also knew that Tsunade was in a difficult situation because of him and his little gamble to go against the Council's decision by testing Naruto when they had strictly told him (well, Yamato actually) not to do so. Now they had a stark raving mad, former daimyo plus the current daimyo, in the Hokage's office with the Council hovering in the back. He couldn't remember the Hokage's office ever being so crowded before.

"You are not even certain that he is your great-grandson," one of the Council members said to Sen-san. Sen-san turned to face him, along with Kyohaku, who had thus far been silently standing by her father's side. Both father and daughter looked murderous. The daimyo clearly didn't like the situation either. Kyohaku walked forward towards the Council member who had spoken. He looked as though he wanted to back up as the woman in front of him advanced threateningly toward him, but either stupidity or his pride had him rooted to the floor.

"I have been haunted by those same blue eyes, those eyes that shadow the Fourth Hokage's eyes, since I gave him up. Do not tell me that I 'am not certain.' He IS my grandson," Kyohaku hissed.

"And if you were so haunted by those eyes, how come you never recognized the Fourth Hokage and _his_ eyes?" The Councilman next to her asked haughtily. Kyohaku's eyes flashed to the new speaker before she punched him square in the jaw. Sen-san took that as a sign to punch the first man that had spoken, and then, everyone began moving at once – some to stop the pending fight, others to join in.

Utter chaos would have broken out at that point if Tsunade had not bellowed for peace.

"EVERYONE FREEZE!" Tsunade roared. Kakashi noted that Yamato, Sakura, and Sai seemed to have been as unwilling to stop Kyohaku, Sen-san, and the few other family members that had come with them from pummeling those Council Members that seemed against the Sen Family's interest in Naruto. "Calm down!" Tsunade added upon seeing Kyohaku cracking her knuckles ominously. As he looked at Kyohaku and the elderly Sen-san still looking quite ready to pummel anyone who came in the way of family, Kakashi had a feeling that both Naruto and his older brother hadn't gotten all of their fiery spirit from just his father. Kyohaku definitely passed on some of her fiery spirit to her son and grandson. Also, Kakashi idly wondered why Sen-san had decided to retire when he still seemed to have so much spunk.

Sen Izanami put a calming hand on both her husband and her daughter. Though she seemed the most frail of the family, she also seemed the most levelheaded at the moment.

"I just celebrated by 80th birthday with a great-grandson I never even knew existed. I would love to get a chance to know more about him, but before we go rushing off and try and find him, we need to listen to Tsunade-sama. She has told us that they are searching for clues to determine which way the kidnapper took Naruto. Since Naruto was not immediately hurt upon his capture, I think we can assume that this other boy - Sasuke did you say - will not kill him. From what you have said, they were once friends. Perhaps there is a chance that Sasuke believes that Naruto can help him. Didn't you say, Sakura-chan, that you heard Sasuke say 'you're coming with me whether you like it or not' to Naruto? That seems to me as though Sasuke had given Naruto some sort of ultimatum and Naruto declined. Therefore, it appears that Sasuke is hoping for Naruto's aid, even if it is necessary to do so through coercion and force," Izanami said wisely.

Personally, Kakashi strongly disagreed that Naruto was not in any threat of being killed, but the only reason that Kakashi had not rushed after Naruto immediately had been due to the fact that he knew that if Naruto became too much of a burden, it was more likely for Sasuke to kill Naruto than for him to use him for whatever twisted plans he had concocted. It would have been too dangerous to pursue Sasuke than to wait and find him again, and then attack later. There was also the fact that Sasuke could be acting on Orochimaru's orders. If the snake-sannin was involved in any of this then there would be great problems.

However, news had come from a spy network near Sound an hour after Sasuke's initial appearance and Naruto's kidnapping. It appeared that there had been a battle at one of Sound's bases, and that Orochimaru was now dead, and it appeared that Sasuke had been behind it. If the rumors were true, Kakashi knew that Sasuke was an even deadlier foe if he could kill off one of the legendary sannin single-handed.

"Thank you Izanami-sama," Tsunade said, taking a deep breath. "You are not the only ones here who care about Naruto," Tsunade said, directing this comment at the Sen Family, "There were many shinobi last night that found out just moments too late about Sasuke taking Naruto. They were not able to help apprehend Sasuke, but they will do what they can in order to help find him. Several of his other friends are currently out searching for him. Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino are currently out searching for Naruto as we speak. They are the best tracking team I have ever seen. Kiba and his dog, Akamaru, have the best noses in Konoha. Shino is a bug user that has a bug that is trained specifically to Naruto's scent. That bug will be able to find him and Sasuke no matter what, though it is much slower than Kiba and Akamaru. These two superb trackers are accompanied by Hyuuga Hinata who uses the Byakugan. The Byakugan is an eye technique that allows her to see through solid areas, which will allow her to check for chakra signatures which will aid finding Naruto if he is hidden. Once we hear from them, we will send these four as back up," Tsunade said, indicating Sai, Yamato, Kakashi, and Sakura.

"Why can't they be sent now?" Kyohaku asked, wringing her hands nervously. Tsunade looked as though she was having a hard time not snapping at the slightly older woman.

"Because," Tsunade said slowly, trying and failing, at keep the frustration out of her voice, "the entire purpose of back-up is to send a fresh team to aid in a mission. The group out now will be exhausted from tracking down Naruto, and thus might not be as effective in attempting to return him. This way they will have fresh helpers. If they are sent now, they will not be as well rested."

"Seven ninjas against one boy?" Sen-san asked, incredulously.

"It appears that you are not familiar with most of the shinobi traits and tactics within Konoha, but I am sure that you must have at least have heard about the Uchiha massacre?" Tsunade said. There was a collective intake of breath from the Sen Family.

"Uchiha Sasuke was the only remaining survivor of his brother's slaughter on their family. For reasons unknown to us, Itachi left Sasuke alive. Since then, Sasuke has done nothing but devoted his life to revenge his family by killing his brother. Before Sasuke's departure, he and Naruto were best friends, and it was only after Sasuke learned of Itachi's interest in killing Naruto that he left the village."

"W-wait a moment. This Itachi, the one who killed his entire family, is after Naruto? So, Sasuke could be trying to protect his best friend from his brother getting him?" Inazaki asked hopefully.

"Or it is possible he is using Naruto as bait to lure his brother into the open," Kakashi said, speaking his mind at last.

"These are the two possibilities for why Sasuke has taken Naruto. Until we find Sasuke and Naruto we do not know any more. I assure you we are doing everything in our power to find Naruto. For the time being, you need to leave my office. I have some matters I need to attend to. All of you are dismissed except Team Kakashi; obviously you will need to stay in my office so I can send you out immediately. Everyone else, leave."

Kakashi watched as everyone, especially Kyohaku, reluctantly left the room. Kakashi knew how they felt; they obviously wanted to be present if any information was procured. Now he finally had a good idea of just how desperately Temari and Kankurou must have felt when they waited for news of Gaara when Akatsuki had taken him. Kakashi clenched and unclenched his fist again as he thought of the idea of Sasuke turning Naruto over to his brother, but then he shook his head. No, Sasuke would never willingly give Naruto to Itachi. That was one good thing. Since Sasuke knew that Itachi wanted Naruto, he would make sure to at least protect Naruto from Itachi in the sense that he would not want Itachi to get him.

No, what angered Kakashi most was that it was he himself who had told Sasuke all those years ago as he helped Sasuke train for the Chuunin exams about the fact that Naruto was forever entwined with Sasuke's sharingan. Kakashi wondered, and hoped against hope, that Sasuke didn't know about the mangekyou sharingan. Despite all hope, Kakashi had an overwhelming feeling that Sasuke knew about the mangekyou sharingan, and what was worse was that Sasuke knew that he needed to kill Naruto in order to obtain it.

* * *

Naruto frowned as he looked at Kabuto. Dokueki was wrapped around Kabuto's right arm, and Naruto was at least pleased to see that Kabuto looked nervous with Dokueki's fangs hovering dangerously near his throat. Naruto slid off of Sasuke's back, now that he was once again back in the happy land of consciousness, and no longer needed to be carried around like a backpack.

"Kabuto is here because he will be able to help me against Itachi," Sasuke explained, answering Naruto's previous outburst about what Kabuto was doing with them.

"Isn't he loyal to Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, worriedly.

"Orochimaru's dead," Sasuke said.

"D-dead? You killed him?" Naruto said, a large grin spreading on his face as he looked at Sasuke.

"I helped!" Dokueki said, raising her head. "But yessss, Sasuke killed him," Dokueki confirmed.

"And he came along willingly?" Naruto asked as he nodded at Kabuto incredulously.

"Of course I didn't. Why do you think she's here wrapped around my throat? One little slice from her venom, and I'm dead in a matter of minutes," Kabuto said, his voice resigned.

"Do you think I'd be here if I didn't have to be?" Dokueki grumped as she looked over at Naruto. "You're body feelssss so much warmer than Kabuto'ssss or Sasuke'ssss," Dokueki sighed longingly, looking at Naruto.

"Uh, thanks," Naruto said awkwardly.

"So how exactly do you plan on finding Itachi?" Kabuto asked sardonically.

"The same way any good poisonous snake attacks a larger prey," Sasuke said.

"Which is how?" Naruto asked confused.

"Let me explain thissss one," Dokueki said, her grip tightening around Kabuto, clearly enjoying the discomfort she was giving him as he spluttered slightly while choking him a little. "You see, when a somewhat large animal issss bitten by a poisnoussss snake, the snake cannot hope to kill the larger prey immediately. Therefore, it bitessss it and leavessss itssss venom in the animal. Then, all she hassss to do is wait for the animal to stager away, slowly dying assss the snake movessss in for the killing blow, or simply allowssss the animal to suffer as she takessss her time getting to it. If the animal goessss too far away to be seen, a snake can still smell itssss own venom. The snake trackssss the scent to where the animal liesss dying, and then - _I devour what I want of it_," Dokueki smiled wickedly.

"That's creepy," Naruto said, shuddering.

"But effective," Dokueki said as she stuck out her tongue, wiggling it at him. Kabuto muttered something about having asked about "finding" him, not "attacking" him, but they ignored him.

"Itachi has been weakening for some time now. In fact, he's going blind due to over usage of a particular sharingan technique," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded, remembering Kakashi saying something about that when he had run into Itachi several months before. "We need to fight him, and weaken him even more, and then go after him, and attack him when he believes that we have retreated," Sasuke said, explaining his strategy.

"I still don't understand where I fit into all of this," Kabuto said wryly.

"Nor will you until the last possible moment so you don't go running your mouth if you escape," Sasuke said darkly before turning back to explain the rest of his plan to Naruto. "According to Dokueki's sources, Itachi and his partner will be on the other side of the Northwestern Konoha border. We will travel there tonight, and engage them tomorrow," Sasuke explained.

"So soon?" Naruto asked, surprised. Sasuke turned to look at Naruto.

"Usually you're the one forcing everyone to go faster and get everything over and done with as soon as possible," Sasuke said, frowning slightly.

"I know. That's why I'm surprised that _you're_ the one saying how quickly we're going to do this," Naruto said, grinning widely. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. Of course, Kabuto decided he wanted to put in his two-cents.

"I think that it is too soon. You need more preparation time in order to-"

"Yesss, so YOU think. Sasuke hassss been preparing thissss for agessss, you moron. Why do you think that Orochimaru'ssss dead now, and not Sasuke?" Dokueki said. Kabuto flushed and said nothing else.

Sasuke took in his team, assessing them all. He nodded, seemingly pleased. "Let's move."

* * *

"What were you thinking?" Tsunade hissed at Kakashi as soon as the room had cleared of everyone except the four shinobi. Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow, not entirely sure what she was talking about. "Why did you go and test Naruto to see if he was related to the Sen family as well?" Tsunade clarified.

"I wanted to check and see if he was related, obviously," Kakashi said, trying to keep the bite out of his voice.

"As much as we would all love for Naruto to know that, didn't you even consider what the council might do to prevent that?" Tsunade asked. Kakashi noticed Sai and Sakura shifting uncomfortably as their team leader got scolded.

"Not all of the council members are against Naruto," Kakashi said in his defense.

"His family does not even know of all the problems that Naruto has gone through. For instance, do they have any idea about the Kyuubi that resides in him? Do they know the ridicule he has endured? His sufferings?" Tsunade asked, now rubbing at her temples, as she continued. "The council is extremely livid at the moment. Not only are they concerned about the fact that the daimyo is now personally involved, but there is also the matter that the we do not know how the Sen family will react when they learn that the Kyuubi resides inside of Naruto," Tsunade said, disgruntled.

"I doubt that that will cause them any alarm, or for them to love him any less," Kakashi said firmly.

"_Exactly!_ They do not know the serious danger that Naruto is in because of the problems with Akatsuki! It wasn't just the council that didn't want Naruto to be tested in front of the Sen Family; it was _my_ decision as well. Think! How will Naruto feel if Akatsuki goes after his new family in order to lure him out and one of them is killed?" Tsunade demanded. Kakashi swallowed, not having thought about that.

Kakashi's silence seemed to bring home the point that he had not considered this idea. Tsunade sighed and continued to massage her temples. "Quite frankly I am surprised at your behavior, and the lack of foresight you had. It's quite unusual," she said, sighing. "However, I do not blame you Kakashi. Naruto has gone too long without family, and he has been too obsessed with getting Sasuke back. He had needed a distraction. It is just unfortunate that Sasuke came back for Naruto," Tsunade murmured sadly, still rubbing at her head. Everyone could tell just how worried that even she was about Naruto. "I think you might have also overlooked the fact that I already knew that Minato was his father."

"W-what?" Kakashi said, aghast.

"Minato?" Sakura asked, confused.

"The Fourth Hokage's name was Namikaze Minato. Naruto's mother was named Uzumaki Kushina. The Fourth Hokage and his mother decided that Naruto should take her maiden name to protect Naruto upon his birth from those who would try to use it against the Yondaime. Very few knew that Minato was even married," Tsunade explained.

"You knew? But why didn't-" Kakashi began, but was interrupted as the door to the Hokage office was thrown open, and a ninja decoder rushed in.

"Hokage-sama! We have received and decoded a message from the trackers. It appears that Naruto's kidnappers are traveling towards the Northwestern border, heading towards the denser part of the forest!"

"Excellent. Team Kakashi, go with speed," Tsunade said.

"Right away," Sakura said, as she, Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato all jumped out of her window, disappearing in a flash to get Naruto back.

* * *

After several hours of hard running, Sasuke finally seemed satisfied with their destination. They stopped in the middle the densest forested area close to the Northwestern border.

"We're going to spend the night here and search for Itachi tomorrow," Sasuke told everyone.

"Great plan," Kabuto muttered to himself. Dokueki hissed at him threateningly.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, turning to his friend. "Can we use some of your clones for lookouts? We'll need to be fully rested tomorrow. I don't want either of us to be up the entire night as lookouts, and I don't trust Kabuto enough to let him stand guard."

"Not a problem," Naruto said, as he created twenty shadow clones for watch duty. "I've been working with so many clones that they're rather strong and can do a lot on their own," Naruto said proudly. Sasuke merely nodded.

"Do I still have to baby-sit him?" Dokueki asked sadly as she pointed her tail towards Kabuto.

"I suppose not," Sasuke said, smoothly taking out a syringe with a bluish-clear liquid from his knapsack and unemotionally jabbed it into the side of Kabuto's neck, who tensed, glared, and then passed out.

Sasuke took some rope and began to tie Kabuto up to a tree, using chakra-binding ropes to make it nearly impossible for him to escape under normal circumstances, and quite impossible without help due to the drug Sasuke had just administered.

"Freedom!" Dokueki cried happily as she slithered away from Kabuto and began to slither towards Naruto. "Dear, sweet, _warm_ Naruto," Dokueki practically purred as she slid up Naruto's leg. He tried dancing around her, but she was too fast for him.

"H-hey!" Naruto yelped as Dokueki began sliding up the loose opening of his pant leg, snaking up his leg closer to his thigh and - other things.

"Behave," Sasuke said, grabbing the waistband of Naruto's pants, stretching the elastic, reaching his hand down Naruto's pants, and effectively grabbing Dokueki's tail and snatching her away before she could begin molesting Naruto. Naruto stood still as Sasuke's hand brushed his balls, and then Dokueki's belly brushed the edges of his happy trail as Sasuke pulled her roughly away from him. Naruto flushed in anger and embarrassment at being treated in such a manner.

"Naruto hassss silky black and orange boxerssss on Sasuke. You should take a look," Dokueki said, grinning despite the death grip that Sasuke had on her. He held her head in one hand, and her tail in the other.

"Dokueki, this is no time for games," Sasuke hissed.

"Time for sex?" Dokueki questioned unabashedly. Naruto blushed harder.

"Do you want me to send you back to your summons' world?" Sasuke hissed dangerously. The aura around him darkened, and even Naruto stepped back at the enraged Uchiha.

"I'll behave," Dokueki muttered. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he wrapped her around his waist. "Hey! I want to be wrapped around Naruto," Dokueki said indignantly.

"Me too, but now it's time for bed," Sasuke said. Naruto blushed again.

"I'm standing right here you know," Naruto said angrily.

"Well then _lie_ down and get some sleep," Sasuke said.

"Who died and made you king?" Naruto muttered angrily as he rolled out an extra sleeping roll that Sasuke had brought for him.

"Actually, you should have commented on Sasuke'ssss sour mood and asked what Sasuke has shoved up his asssss, which issss nothing. He'ssss probably cranky because he wantssss something up there, though you should have seen how much squirming he did the day after you two did it. You must be large because he looked pained, so maybe he rather wantssss to shove something up your-"

_"Dokueki!" _

"Behaving now!" Dokueki squeaked. Sasuke looked over to Naruto, willing the blush to evaporate from his cheeks, hoping Naruto hadn't heard her. Naruto didn't say anything, and Sasuke wondered if it was because Naruto had been in as much pain the day after as he had been and therefore could empathize with his pain, or because Naruto really hadn't heard her. When Naruto said nothing Sasuke decided _not_ to pursue his curiosity.

As Naruto and Sasuke finished rolling out their bedrolls, Dokueki continued to mutter underneath her breath, despite her promise that she would behave.

"Go find one of the Naruto clones to keep you warm if I'm so cold blooded!" Sasuke practically yelled at Dokueki who slithered off happily at this prospect.

"I don't understand why she doesn't go back to her summons' realm, or why you allow her to stay out for so long if you dislike how she acts," Naruto said, his frown hard to see in the dimming light. Sasuke sighed.

"She hates her summons' realm. She complains about how cold it is there, but I think it's a bit of a ruse. From what I hear, since she is known to be anti-Orochimaru, most of the other snakes target her. I don't want to send her back if the next time I go to summon her, all that comes out is her lifeless body," Sasuke explained.

"Summons can die? I thought that they just ran out of chakra and returned back to their own realm and healed," Naruto said confused.

"Summons can die in their own realm," Sasuke said.

"Poor Dokueki," Naruto murmured as he slid into his sleeping roll. Sasuke turned to ask Naruto a question, only to find that his friend had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the traveling pillow. Sasuke turned onto his side, his eyes staring into darkness.

A knot tightened in the pit of his stomach for the first time since he had began plotting how to get rid of Itachi, a strange fear that he had never known before, or at least, never acknowledged seemed to have decided to manifest itself. Fear that he would fail in his task to kill Itachi on the morrow. Fear that he would be killed. Fear that he would regret how he went about exacting his revenge. He just hoped Naruto would be able to forgive him after everything was over, and understand why he had chosen the path he had.

Taking in a deep breath, Sasuke willed with all his might to rid himself of such petty fears and emotions. He needed sleep. He would only be jeopardizing things more if he were not well rested, his chakra restored, and his body in the best condition it could be in. Using logic to rid himself of his fears, rational and irrational alike, Sasuke finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

For the second time in his life, Sasuke fell victim to Naruto's restless sleeping habits.

Sasuke felt the air whoosh from his lungs as Naruto rolled heavily on top of him, bringing his sleeping roll that he was still partially in along with him. Any sleepiness Sasuke might have felt at initially being woken up was gone as he glared daggers into Naruto's blue eyes that stared sheepishly at him. Naruto, for once, had actually woken up on his own after rolling over.

"Dobe," Sasuke said dangerously.

"Heheh, sorry teme," Naruto said as rolled back off of Sasuke, pushing his sleeping roll back down. "I think it's just you. My body seems to move of my own accord in my sleep towards you," Naruto said sleepily.

"More like on top of me," Sasuke groaned, as the vision of Naruto's body, his warm body that had just been atop of his, woke up other areas of his body. Naruto's comment about his body moving on its own accord sent pleasant images to Sasuke's brain and groin. Sasuke turned over onto his side to continue to glare at Naruto.

"Go back to sleep," Naruto said, propping himself up and then leaning over from his sleeping bag and giving Sasuke a kiss on his mouth.

Both Naruto and Sasuke froze as their lips met. Electricity seemed to shoot through each other at the point of contact of their lips. It had been a simple gesture, a simple kiss. Sasuke's annoyance and Naruto's sheepishness vanished, replaced with a dangerous atmosphere.

Somehow, the simple kiss had seemed more intimate than all their other gestures before. Naruto moved away from Sasuke, licking his lips, staring down at Sasuke. Sasuke propped himself up on his elbow, looking at Naruto, who was now sitting up, touching his fingers to his lips as though wondering what had happened.

"Naruto?" Sasuke said, questioningly.

"I-" Naruto said, apparently at an equal loss. Somehow, Naruto leaning over and giving Sasuke a gentle kiss, a _loving_ kiss on his mouth had crossed the two over some boundary. Suddenly the idea of the rivalry that they had had of who would best who seemed so young, so foolish, and much too innocent. Whatever unspoken barrier they had just crossed felt like something much more intimate. Sasuke's heart sped up as he looked at Naruto who was looking back at him with such an intensity that made his whole body light on fire. His arousal throbbed deliciously as he felt a sudden and alarming need for Naruto. A need for Naruto to come to him.

As though Naruto was heeding Sasuke's silent beckoning, he moved as Sasuke did, their lips meeting halfway, crushing mouth against mouth.

Lips brushed against lips in a searing and heated kiss. Naruto parted his lips slightly, and Sasuke's tongue began to slowly trace Naruto's lips back and forth, his movements causing a tingly sensation on both his tongue and Naruto's lips. Naruto moaned into the open mouthed kiss, his hand coming up to play with the hair at the nape of Sasuke's neck, his other arm wrapping around Sasuke, pulling the other shinobi's body closer to his. Pressing closer to Naruto, Sasuke began to slowly probe his tongue into Naruto's mouth, capturing Naruto's tongue and gently running his own over Naruto's, a thrill of feeling starting at his mouth and spreading over the rest of his body.

As Sasuke worked his tongue, he brought one hand up to cup Naruto's cheek, and snuck his hand lower to cup the cheek of Naruto's ass, groping him unabashedly as he raised his body slightly from his sitting position.

"Sasuke," Naruto moaned, breathlessly into Sasuke's mouth. His fingers roamed along Sasuke's body, feeling Sasuke's warmth beneath the soft fabric of his clothes. Naruto's hands lowered to the thin-corded belt at Sasuke's waist. He gripped his fingers around the belt and used it to pull Sasuke closer to him. Sasuke obliged willingly as he pressed himself heavily atop of Naruto.

Sasuke took deep pleasure in Naruto's eagerness. Sasuke knew he was being slightly rough, but felt that he couldn't help but press his lips harshly against Naruto's, not allowing either of them to breathe, their faces pressed so closely together that they could not even draw breath through their noses. Naruto felt his head begin to swim at the lack of oxygen, and his body felt utterly on fire as he remembered the time that he had entered Sasuke's body so erotically underwater. His head swam as though reliving the experience, and he felt giddy and lightheaded as Sasuke's warm lips pressed fiercely against his.

Finally, Sasuke pulled away from him. He moved his legs so that he straddled Naruto's sides. He took deep, husky lungfuls of air as he began to tug at his shirt. Naruto fumbled with the corded tie his fingers were still gripping, his hands moving around Sasuke's back where the knot was and began fumbling with the knot to untie it. As soon as Naruto had freed him of the belt, Sasuke pulled the shirt over his head, the sweaty fabric clinging to him as it was drug over his body before he flung it off of to the side. Sasuke leaned back down, his arms propping his body just above Naruto's. Naruto took a moment to admire the way that Sasuke looked wearing just his arm guards on the upper part of his body.

There was a certain wildness to Sasuke being so exposed, yet looking ready to enter a fight at any moment. Naruto's attention was brought back to Sasuke leaning in so close to him. Sasuke's hungry lips hovered close to Naruto's mouth before he slowly slid out his tongue and ran it over Naruto's bottom lip. Naruto moaned, his mouth opening as Sasuke leaned closer, pressing his lips against Naruto's moist ones, his tongue slipping inside Naruto's mouth.

Naruto felt his eyes roll in the back of his head at the strangely pleasurable feeling of Sasuke's tongue caressing, pulling, and stroking his own. He clutched tightly to the cord of rope still in his hands, his body writhing in his pleasure. Sasuke's unusually long, almost snakelike tongue began to actually wrap itself around Naruto's, his tongue moving and stroking Naruto's. The blond haired ninja moaned as he imagined - and remembered - Sasuke's tongue moving like that over his cock. At this memory, Naruto's hips bucked upward unconsciously, pressing his manhood against Sasuke's.

Sasuke grunted as Naruto's movement dislodged his seat from atop of the younger shinobi. He pulled his tongue and his lips apart from Naruto's drug-like mouth to readjust himself atop of his friend. His lover. A glimmer of moonlight shone down upon Naruto, its rays catching Naruto's face, illuminating Naruto's gorgeous features. Sasuke felt a desire to know what Naruto's entire body would look like illuminated in such a way and reached his hand out to unzip Naruto's jacket. He slid the catch slowly down, his eyes greedily taking in the sight of the black-meshed covered chest and stomach beneath him. Naruto bucked his hips against Sasuke's again, but Sasuke merely grinned at Naruto's impatience.

Smirking, Sasuke took a few moments to appreciate how edible Naruto looked with his jacket opened and half hanging off him on the grass. Naruto leaned up, making Sasuke have to lean backwards as Naruto discarded his jacket, leaving him in just his fishnet shirt. Sasuke reached up to Naruto's face, stroking the three lines on each of Naruto's cheeks, staring at Naruto as lust filled blue-eyes met impassioned obsidian-eyes.

Slowly, Sasuke's hand moved from Sasuke's face to the back of Naruto's head. He began to tug at the tie of his Konoha headband when Naruto's hand shot out and stilled his movements.

"No," Naruto said. Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"No?" Sasuke repeated, a smirk on his face, somehow even more turned on by Naruto's sudden fighting spirit. He reached his other hand to try and get at the tie, but Naruto shot out his other hand to stop Sasuke from achieving his goal.

"But I want it off of you," Sasuke said as he ground his hips down onto Naruto.

"N-no," Naruto said unconvincingly as he bit his lip to bite the moan from coming from his mouth.

"Yes," Sasuke hissed excitedly. His hands were outstretched away from his body, Naruto's arms keeping him at bay, but Naruto's state of excitement had left him vulnerable. Before Naruto knew what was happening he was forced back onto the ground, Sasuke heavily atop him, gazing at him with sharingan eyes, his lips set into a predatory grin. Naruto began to get angry, realizing that Sasuke was attempting to overpower him. As Naruto went to kick his legs to dislodge Sasuke from him again, he was thwarted when he felt hands holding his legs and his arms down as well; Naruto was effectively pinned to the ground.

"What the-" Naruto asked, looking around to see the shirtless Sasuke clones around him. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that the Sasuke sitting above him had created multiple clones in order to pin him down.

"I copied your shadow clone jutsu. I felt I would need to repay you at some point for you seem quite keen on being seme when you gang bang me," Sasuke said, as he grinned huskily down at Naruto.

"Sasu-" Naruto began, but the rest of Sasuke's name was muffled as one of the clones snatched away the corded belt that he still had held in his hand and wrapped it around Naruto's mouth, causing his words to be cut off.

"Shhh," Sasuke said, as he hushed Naruto. "We both know how loud you are, and we don't want to attract any unwanted attention. Especially not Dokueki," Sasuke murmured.

Naruto tried to yell something at Sasuke that sounded something like, "bastard", "bondage fetish", and "prick" but came out rather muffled. Sasuke smirked as one of his five clones untied Naruto's hitai-ate, allowing his beautiful blond hair to spill more fully around him.

"Fuck," Sasuke whispered huskily, his breath catching at how erotic Naruto looked writhing beneath him in his anger of having his headband removed. Sasuke allotted himself another few moments to stare greedily down at Naruto as the clone that had untied Naruto's Konoha headband walked towards the real Sasuke and tied the band tightly around Sasuke's neck, making it look like a black and silver choker. Naruto stopped his struggling at once.

Naruto had not expected that Sasuke's intent for wanting his headband off would be to wear it. He had initially thought it was Sasuke's desire for Naruto to dissociate himself from Konoha, but seeing Sasuke straddling him as he wore his black headband, seeing the Sasuke clones all grinning at him so sexily drove Naruto's libido crazy. Naruto moaned into the cord as he watched the clone who had untied his headband flick out his tongue and began to lick the real Sasuke from the edge of where the headband-choker was tied at his neck, down his chest.

Sasuke smirked at Naruto as he watched his blond-haired teammate looking at him so huskily. He clearly remembered the way he enjoyed watching the many Naruto-clones doing erotic things to each other, and he wanted to see if Naruto enjoyed it as much as he had. From the way Naruto had begun to buck his hips against Sasuke's, he took that as a definite yes. Sasuke grinded back, loving the way that pressing against Naruto made him feel. Knowing he wasn't too heavy for him, Sasuke moved his arms so that they were no longer propping himself up. He allowed his full weight to fall atop of Naruto, putting more pressure against Naruto's arousal; his naked, moist chest pressed against Naruto's fishnet covered one. Panting heavily at the exertion their grinding caused, he put his head next to the side of Naruto's face, his lips brushing, caressing, biting, and pulling on Naruto's ear.

"You feel so good," Sasuke said huskily, as he panted into Naruto's ear. Naruto closed his eyes, the feelings coursing through his body overwhelming his senses. He grunted back in response as he moved his hips, the only part of him that he could do so without being held back by a Sasuke clone and picked up his speed and the ferocity of his thrusting.

Sasuke pushed himself back off of Naruto. Naruto, despite the cord in his mouth, growled at Sasuke threateningly, the sound deep and rumbling from the back of his throat. Sasuke smirked, knowing Naruto wanted him as much as he wanted Naruto. He didn't respond to the threatening growl and instead began to undo Naruto's pants. Naruto once again stilled his struggling beneath Sasuke to allow his older teammate to undress him. His pants and black and orange silk boxers came off quickly, followed by several articles of Sasuke's clothes. The same clone who had untied his hitai-ate began to work at undressing the real Sasuke once Sasuke had finished undressing him.

"Nnn," Naruto moaned at the erotic strip tease of the Sasuke-clone touching Sasuke. Naruto felt about ready to burst at the sight, his exposed, erect member almost aching at the lack of attention it was getting in the open air. As though reading his mind, Sasuke reached his hand down and began to stroke him. Naruto arched into the touch, though he had to fight to keep his eyes from closing at the pleasure so he could watch Sasuke and clone-Sasuke in action. The clone had come from behind Sasuke and had wrapped his hand around the real Sasuke's cock. The real Sasuke also had to fight to keep his eyes open, wanting to watch Naruto, wanting to see him come. Their eyes locked as Sasuke jerked Naruto off, and Sasuke's clone did him.

Eyes still locked onto each other, Sasuke and his clone controlling the jerks perfectly made Naruto and himself come at the same time. Sasuke felt his euphoric release intensify at the triumph at having made them both come at the same time, something that he had secretly wanted since the very first time they had had sex. Naruto's semen spilled out of his body onto his belly and Sasuke's hand, but most of Sasuke's seed landed directly on Naruto's stomach and chest. Releasing his hold on Naruto's cock, Sasuke slumped forward, his hand coming up lazily to untie the cord at Naruto's mouth, his lips catching Naruto's in a soft kiss, his body smacking wetly against their cum soaked stomachs and chests.

"Fucking teme," Naruto panted out, turning his head off to the side to spit so that he could get rid of the taste of the cord, before his head turned back towards Sasuke, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "You're not wiped out already are you?" Naruto said, smirking. It was Sasuke's turn to growl dangerously at Naruto who merely grinned back. "You're not even using your clones like I do. You used that one to pleasure _yourself_. I think you _like_ being gang-banged – or maybe you just like having me tied up, or in this case, held down," Naruto said knowingly.

"Urusaizo," Sasuke snarled as he pressed his lips firmly and harshly against Naruto's to forcibly make him be quiet. He could feel Naruto once more bucking against him, but he still had his clones holding him fast. "You're mine," Sasuke murmured against Naruto, who was interrupted as Naruto kissed him fiercely. "I don't want to share you, even with myself," Sasuke said, jealously. Sasuke could feel Naruto smirking back.

"Such jealousy," Naruto said, feeling himself growing hard once more, and feeling Sasuke's own arousal growing again, pressing firmly on his upper thigh. "Let me go. Let me feel you with my hands," Naruto said, in a voice and in a manner so unlike his usual loudmouth self that Sasuke didn't even hesitate to obey. His clones disappeared immediately in five puffs of smoke.

Sasuke once again let his body fall fully onto Naruto's, their wet cocks smacking against each other as the two shinobi began to glide against one another, their bodies slick with each other's sperm as well as their own sweat. The air already smelled heavily of sex, making the love making that much more erotic. Naruto reached up, his hands gripping and groping at Sasuke.

As they touched each other, their eyes locking, they seemed to lose themselves in their lovemaking. They both began to feel light headed with euphoria, and a strange thing began to happen.

Naruto knew that he had been beneath Sasuke, and he could still feel the weight of Sasuke pressing down on him, but suddenly, it was as though _he_ was Sasuke, and feeling his own body pressed against him. Sasuke meanwhile, suddenly felt as though a weight had settled on his body, but he knew that he was still on top of Naruto – wasn't he?

Time seemed to slow as the ninja on top pressed his throbbing member against the ninja's heated opening. There were no words of consent, no nods of approval, just a look that spoke volumes between the two as the wet cock slid gently in, only going in to the head, and pulling out almost all the way, before slowly pushing back in to the head, and back out again. The slow pace was maddening to them both, but neither was willing to speed up, seeing who would cave in first. Their bodies were so on fire, so entwined, their eyes locked as though able to read everything about each other, it was hard to tell who was doing what. Was Sasuke sliding inside of Naruto, or was Naruto pushing inside of Sasuke? They both panted heavily, so connected to each other that they were no longer sure if they were Naruto and Sasuke, or just one person feeling so many emotions.

Pushing in deeper now, and then nearly pulling out, slickened cock inside the waiting body, going in slowly. The pace never increased as Sasuke and Naruto locked eyes with each other, giving each other long, deep kisses in between every painfully slow thrust, each thrust bringing them closer to the edge. Each sound that they made, each pant, each grunt of pain at the strange intrusion, each moan at the feeling of being inside the other, each hiss of pain turned to pleasure seemed to fill both Sasuke and Naruto, feeling the vibrations of the other's noises as though they _were_ the other.

The pattern never changed. In and out slowly, only going deeper after about a minute of blissful, gliding thrusts. Their speed was slow, steady, and so fucking erotic, until they could last no longer. Hips bucked against hips, as the thrusts became more painful, faster, harder and more pleasurable.

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" They half-screamed half-moaned each other's names into each other's mouths as they came in waves, their bodies wracking with such deep pleasure, pleasure neither one of them had felt before, feeling such a part of the other. They both panted, exhausted after their second release of the night.

Each of them rolled to the side, their chests heaving, still staring at each other. Naruto gulped and Sasuke licked at his lips. No words were needed as they looked at each other. They had read each other's thoughts – they had practically been the other – and they didn't need to say what they already knew.

They loved each other.

An owl hooted off in the distance, and the spell that the two seemed to be in was broken.

"We-uh, we better clean up before Dokueki finds us," Sasuke murmured. Naruto nodded. To anyone else, Sasuke knew that this would have been an offensive comment to be spoken so soon after what had happen, and especially in such a seemingly nonchalant tone, but this was Naruto: Naruto understood.

"We better get some sleep. Big day for you tomorrow," Naruto said, grinning as he wiped himself down with some traveling wipes from his bag.

"A life-changing day."

* * *

"Aaaaah!" Both Naruto and Sasuke shot up in their bedrolls at the startling scream. Each had risen to his feet, Sasuke looking around with his sharingan activated, and Naruto in a fighting stance, a kunai held at the ready.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked. "Who screamed?"

"I did!" Sasuke and Naruto had to look down to the ground, realizing that it was Dokueki. She looked terribly distressed.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, his sharingan not finding immediate danger, wondering if someone had attacked the shadow clone Dokueki had been with, though if so, it had been somewhere out of his direct line of sight.

"What happened? _What happened?!_ I could ask that of you two! You had sex and I wassss not here to watch it!" Dokueki wailed, her tongue flitting through the air. "I can smell it still," she moaned sadly. Sasuke reached down, and grabbed her roughly by the throat, and picked her up to hold her at eye level. He pressed his thumb in the center of the line between the hinges of her jaw where it would close off the most air for her.

_"You woke us up for that?!"_ Sasuke hissed, and Naruto felt himself sympathizing with Sasuke's sudden urge to strangle Dokueki.

"I came back because Itachi'ssss over that way," Dokueki gasped through Sasuke's tight grasp on her throat as she pointed feebly with her tail off towards the right. Sasuke's mere shock made him loosen his grip on the snake. He stood frozen in surprise for a mere moment before he dropped Dokueki, not overly gently, but not harshly either, to the ground as he quickly fumbled with putting on the rest of his clothes that he had not bothered to get into after the activities of the previous night as Naruto did the same. Packing up their things in record speed, Sasuke once again grabbed Dokueki and slung her around his waist. For once she had no comment.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, a strange urgency yet breathlessness in his voice, "distract Itachi. I need to discuss a few quick things with Kabuto," Sasuke said. Naruto frowned, wanting to protest, but decided against it. He called back his clones that were out on the border. Their knowledge flowed back into him, and he headed out in the direction where Itachi was.

Sasuke quickly grabbed a vial from his pack that held a milky-white substance in it. He grasped in tightly, and then turned his attention to Kabuto who was sitting almost unconcernedly on the grass, his eyes raised questioningly, unable to move his limbs.

"So it was Naruto-kun that you were sneaking off to fuck," Kabuto said, a disgusting smirk on his face. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, hoping that Kabuto had still been unconscious for their activities the night before. He had completely forgotten that Kabuto had been there, and Sasuke decided to just ignore his comment.

"I need information about the potion that you made for Orochimaru. The one that allows a body transfer to become permanent," Sasuke said. Kabuto eyed him warily.

"What about it?"

Sasuke smiled wickedly. Kabuto felt a horrible fear well up in him. Sasuke looked suddenly insane with the malicious grin that spread over his face; he would never have expected Sasuke to look so frightening. "I need to use it of course."

* * *

"We're getting closer to them," Kiba informed the two groups as he sniffed at the air as he tracked Naruto's scent. Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato had caught up with Kiba, Hinata, and Shino at an alarmingly fast rate, but they had still had to travel practically through the entire night to catch up to the tracking group. Kakashi could not recall his group ever moving so fast, (especially not without Naruto in the lead, urging them to go at his neck-breaking speed.) Then again, Kakashi mused, Naruto was leading them still, even if it was in a different way; he led them because everyone wanted to find him so desperately.

"Do you think Naruto-kun will be okay?" Hinata asked worriedly, her usually sorrowful eyes seeming even more sad and heartbroken than normal.

"Naruto'll be fine. You know he always has some bizarre trick up his sleeve to keep himself out of danger right at the last minute," Kiba said knowingly. Kakashi kept his eyes ahead of him, trying not to doubt his or Naruto's capabilities. Kakashi's mind went back to a conversation he had had with Naruto, a conversation that felt like it had happened ages ago.

FLASHBACK

_"...that does not mean I should live in fear of someone coming after me. I can take care of myself when I need to," Naruto had said. Kakashi sighed. _

_"How do I say this? Naruto, I know you can take care of yourself. You've proven yourself over and over again. What I'm saying is I don't know if Sasuke will let you take care of yourself. He wants to protect you because you are someone close to him. He cannot bear the thought of you being lost to him in the same way as his family. I think part of him fears you because you are that important to him." _

_"Of course he fears me! I'm greater than he is!" Naruto said all of a sudden, laughing proudly. His laughter didn't last long though, and he trailed off awkwardly. "Ne, do you really think Sasuke is that worried about me, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto had moved up on the shingled roof, concentrating chakra to his feet to crouch close to Kakashi. Kakashi turned to him and gave one of his eye-wrinkling smiles. _

_"I do." Kakashi reached out a hand and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I guess what I'm trying to say, is make sure Sasuke knows you can take care of yourself. You know, you make a lot of people worry now that I think about it. Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, Jiraiya-sama, Iruka, Sasuke, and Sakura. And me of course." _

_"Nani? You just said that you knew I could take care of myself!" _

_"Yes, but you still worry me sometimes. Don't you think I can take of myself? And weren't you worried about me when I was in the hospital?" Naruto mumbled "yes." "See? Worry and rationality of prior knowledge of how you know someone will handle a situation differs."_

END FLASHBACK

It was hard to take his own advice. He knew that Naruto could take care of himself if he had to, but there was still that little nagging voice in the back of his head that made him fearful of what Sasuke could do to Naruto.

Kakashi felt guilt well up within him. He had let Naruto down. He had let Sasuke down. He had let _himself_ down. He should never have encouraged Naruto and Sasuke's relationship the way he had. It had not been his place to meddle in such affairs. Now he wondered how things would have turned out if he had not tried to persuade Sasuke to work things out with Naruto when they first had that strange nightly encounter due to Naruto's restless sleeping habits all those years ago. Kakashi shook his head. He was distracted. He couldn't let these thoughts cloud his judgment. He was a shinobi and he needed to quell his emotions or he would be no use to Naruto.

"Naruto will be fine," Kakashi said. "He has all of us coming for him," Kakashi added, crinkling his eyes into a smile. The rest of the group turned to look at him, and they all seemed encouraged by this thought.

* * *

"Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto yelled. The thickly wooded areas were suddenly flooded with several thousand Naruto figures. Tons of orange and black clad clones now dappled the once completely green pine area. Sasuke said to distract Itachi; he figured he could handle that with a few thousand replicas of himself.

Amidst the horde of Naruto figures, the real Naruto balanced himself high up in a tall evergreen, using it as a vantage post. He had henged himself to look like a crow, and sat perched on a branch hoping his disguise would help him against Itachi's sharingan.

"Oho. It appears that we are not alone now, ne?" Naruto heard the voice before he actually saw Kisame jump into the air, his massive sword swinging down wildly, slashing through half a dozen of Naruto's clones. Naruto looked down at Kisame from his hideout and lookout spot.

"You are exerting your energy unnecessarily, Kisame," Itachi's smooth and uncaring voice carried from below him. He saw Itachi seemingly appear out of nowhere next to his Akatsuki partner, his eyes scanning the area around him, his sharingan sorting through the thousands of clones to find the real one.

"I haven't had anything exciting to exert my energy on recently. It will be good to get rid of it," Kisame said as twenty or so clones began to attack. Naruto watched as the clones began to attempt his Uzumaki Naruto combo. Only two clones managed hits before being destroyed with Kisame's massive sword, Kisame clearly gleeful at the attacks while Itachi stood watching with a mask-like expression on his face, his eyes still scanning the area.

Naruto knew that Itachi could cast genjutsu with just a flick of his finger, and Naruto was horrible at getting out of any type of mind attack. He hurriedly shut his eyes, allowing his ears to do most of the work. He knew full well that it was possible that he was already in an illusion. However, he had taken special precautions this time to prevent that and to stop himself from being caught in one for too long. He knew that if he were to get caught, only someone else would be able to snap him out of the illusion. They would have to forcibly pour chakra into his body in order to bring him out of the genjutsu. He had practiced a strategy to fight against Itachi's genjutsu since he and Itachi had had their last encounter, and he had a strong feeling it would work this time.

"Hello Naruto-kun," Itachi's voice spoke quietly from Naruto's left, and he snapped open his bird eyes involuntarily, seeing Itachi to his right, then cursing himself for giving himself away before quickly snapping his eyes shut again. He hadn't expected Itachi to find him so fast with so many of his clones and with so many trees.

_"Caw, caw, caw!"_ Naruto crowed through his henged beak. He had decided to henge into a crow on purpose; it was part of his strategy he had been perfecting to defeat Itachi. Itachi himself used crows for his illusions, so he figured that Itachi could use a taste of his own medicine by using them against him. At Naruto's cawing, birds began to flutter from their trees, a mass of birds, crows and other kinds alike, all soaring in the air. In one fell swoop, they came hurtling towards him and Itachi. If Naruto's eyes had been open, he would have seen Itachi hop backwards off the branch, avoiding the birds while throwing several shuriken at them.

Naruto had taken the painstaking liberty of learning birdcalls in order to alert them of danger, and use them to help attack Itachi.

Meanwhile, one of Naruto's clones came up and put his hand on the real Naruto's feathery body, pouring chakra into him. Naruto wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't sure if Itachi had yet succeeded in getting him sucked into an illusion, but he could not afford to ignore the possibility. He knew he needed Sasuke's help to defeat Itachi, and now he desperately wished that he had thought to ask what Sasuke's plan for defeating Itachi was. He felt rather foolish. For months Sasuke had been planning something, yet why hadn't he thought to ask his friend what the plan was. Also, why hadn't Sasuke bothered to tell him?

Below him he could hear the sounds of more of his clones popping out of existence as they came into contact with Kisame's sword.

"NARUTO!" He heard a voice yell, and was surprised to hear not Sasuke, but Sakura hollering his name from below. He didn't have time to sigh in relief before realizing that if she was here, then she and anyone else who was with her was in danger from Itachi's sharingan (which was an irrational and foolish thought considering that _he_ was in greater danger of it than anyone else was.)

With a puff of smoke, the crow vanished as he quickly switched back to his original form, letting his clones deal with stopping Itachi from attacking him, and jumped down from branch to branch in order to reach the ground where Kakashi, Sai, Sakura, Yamato, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino all stood, shaking pine needles loose from the branches as he hopped down.

"Now this is much better!" Naruto yelled as he landed on the forest floor, looking at all that had come as backup.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked breathlessly as she and the others took up fighting stances as Naruto got into position in the Konoha ranks. Naruto merely grinned and a hefty nod.

"And here I thought we were saving you from Uchiha Sasuke. I guess we got the wrong Uchiha brother," Kiba said, smirking as he surveyed the scene.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, concerned, surveying his nephew, wanting more than a grin and nod for confirmation.

"I can take care of myself," Naruto said, pointing to himself with his thumb in his usual cocky manner. Kakashi nodded.

"Where's Sa-" Kakashi was cutoff as Itachi threw a kunai with an explosive note between the group of Konoha shinobi, making everyone scatter as the tag hissed and blew-up.

"Yamato, Naruto, Sai, Sakura - you deal with Kisame. Kiba, Shino, Hinata - help me with Itachi," Kakashi instructed as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch, grabbing his Konoha headband, and uncovering his one sharingan eye. "Katon: gokyaku no jutsu!" He cried as he blew flames towards the ground and several of the nearby trees. He knew that sharingan users had the advantage in open areas, and by burning down some of the trees nearby he would be creating an opening for Itachi. However, Itachi wasn't the only one around here with the sharingan, and Kakashi wasn't thinking about himself either. Kakashi could feel Sasuke's presence nearby, and it unnerved him that Sasuke wasn't coming to join in the fight. Kakashi believed he could lure Sasuke out if they started fighting Itachi. He knew that Sasuke would at least be on their side, if only to fight against his older brother.

"Oi! Why aren't I going after Itachi?" Naruto yelled, finally getting the time to holler as he caught up with Kakashi.

"Do as your Uncle tells you!" Kakashi said, before leaping off in a different direction. Naruto made an angry noise of protest, but he headed off back towards where Kisame was firing attacks from inside an enclosure of trees. Kakashi's use of their relationship had had the desired effect as he hoped it would; obeying orders from a sensei were different then obeying orders from a sensei AND a family member.

"Where are you Sasuke?" Naruto hissed as he created clones to attack Kisame.

Kisame and Itachi definitely had the advantage in the battle. They kept the Konoha shinobi separated from each other, making them dodge different things - kunai, ninja stars, etc. - in order to keep them from forming a plan to go at them all at once. To avoid getting ganged up on, instead of fighting all out, they had clearly picked the more levelheaded approach and fought on the defensive. If Kisame and Itachi could keep their enemies from grouping together, they could slowly pick them off one by one while their enemies became weaker from having to exert themselves to avoid the many kunai, flames, and water techniques that were being thrown at them in order to stop their advance.

It was working extremely effectively as well. None of the Konoha ninja could stay on the ground too long in fear of getting targeted from exploding tags, smoke bombs, ninja stars, shuriken, a blade, and the long distance attacks.

Naruto stood panting in a tree having just avoided Kisame's sword, followed by a blazing water technique. He gripped his arm where the burning water had seared him slightly, his eyes scanning the battle for an opening or signs of where his teammates were. An explosion in the clump of trees to his right, followed by some loud-pitched curses was probably Sakura. He couldn't see Yamato, but he could see Sai in another tree located about fifteen or sixteen tress away using his strange art jutsu to create a dragon to attack Kisame. Naruto saw the opportunity he'd been looking for.

"Oi, Sai!" Naruto yelled amidst the blasts of explosive notes going off. Itachi and Kisame were both concentrating even harder on keeping the eight of them separated as another round of explosions went off. "Can your ink creature hold human weight?" Naruto yelled loudly as he heard barking coming from somewhere behind him, no doubt Kiba and Akamaru attacking.

"Yes!" Sai's voice came, hardly audible over the din of the battle, but that was all that Naruto needed to know. Naruto created clones and directed some of them to try to jump onto the back of the inky-black, fake dragon when they could. Sai seemed to have realized what Naruto was thinking, and he pointed for his dragon to soar back through the trees where some of Naruto's clones were. The clones hopped on its back and soared toward Kisame. Meanwhile, Naruto could finally see Yamato who had begun making a long series of seals from close to where Naruto could hear Kisame located. Naruto hopped down to the ground to get a better look as he zigzagged through trees, racing the dragon above him towards Kisame. He arrived in time to see vines shoot at Kisame, but he easily slashed away at them again and again.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled, jumping into view, punching the ground around everyone, forcing Kisame to jump into the air to avoid falling into the growing crater caused by the strong kunoichi. Yamato's vines finally wound their way around Kisame's legs as Kisame landed. Kisame slashed through them, but Sakura had lifted a large rock, and punched it. The broken shards of the rock came flying towards Kisame, and as he blocked them from hitting him, Yamato's vines finally snaked around Kisame's arm, making it hard for him to move his sword.

Above Kisame, the black dragon came racing towards him through the tops of the trees, a blue light glowing from the dragon's back.

"Odaima rasengan!" Naruto's clones yelled, as the dragon hurtled forward, two Naruto clones holding a joint, larger than normal rasengan in their hands. Kisame's eyes widened as the ball hit him straight in his chest, an explosion issuing from the contact of the rasengan with Kisame, Naruto's clones popping away as they were disintegrated from the blast.

"YATTA!" Naruto cried enthusiastically from his perch where he had watched the scene. "We killed another Aka-" but his words were cut off as a figure stood in front of him, his eyes widening, as the last thing he saw were red spiraled eyes boring into his own.

Naruto felt himself being lost in Itachi's sharingan, his body going numb as he was thrust into a world of unimaginable pain at Itachi's hands with the mangekyou sharingan.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. He had joined the battle against his brother when he had seen the smoke rising. He cursed Kabuto for making it harder than necessary to extract the information he needed from him. He rushed towards the clearing where smoke was rising, only just arriving to see the other Konoha ninja, along with Kisame all engaged in battle. Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Kakashi had seemed more organized than the other team as Kakashi and Kiba attacked at the same time against Itachi. The other two were holding back as "reserves," or as Sasuke guessed, as the two who would help force chakra into someone if anyone got caught in a genjutsu. He saw that Hinata and Shino were holding back from battle as Kiba charged with getsuga while Kakashi was trying to "distract" Itachi.

"Itachi's mine!" Sasuke had yelled as he appeared on the scene, only to see his brother look in his direction and promptly flicker out of sight. "No!" Sasuke hissed, his sharingan blazing at he searched the area for where Itachi was, only to find him in the treetops, advancing on Naruto with his mangekyou sharingan blaring. Sasuke ran towards the two of them.

Sasuke watched as Itachi grasped Naruto by his throat, lifting him so that he was closer to his eyes. Sasuke knew that he would only have mere seconds to act because the sharingan's effects on Naruto could seem like hours or even days in the matter of seconds. However, it was Itachi's distraction with Naruto that gave Sasuke the opening that he needed.

Powering up his chidori, with his sharingan blazing, Sasuke appeared behind Naruto with a kunai in his hand, and rammed his chidori and the kunai through Naruto's chest, straight through to Itachi.

Itachi grunted in pain and surprise. His eyes stared directly into Sasuke's.

As he stared into his brother's eyes, Sasuke felt anger well up inside him. Itachi still seemed impassive even though Sasuke had just thrust his hand through him. Sasuke withdrew his hand, watching as Naruto's body fell to the side, Itachi having let go of him. Itachi made a sudden move backwards, clutching at the wound in his chest, and then made sure to put enough distance between himself and Sasuke as he hopped to another treetop.

Sasuke's face finally contorted in the slightest of smirks, a deranged expression on his face as he stared at his older brother, noting how Itachi was clutching at his wound, and was breathing somewhat heavily.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed, as she at least, paid attention to the way that Naruto had gone deathly still as he fell from the treetop like a lifeless doll. Sakura screamed again as she caught him in midair, landing heavily on the ground with Naruto's extra body weight. "Naruto!" Sakura screamed in anguish as she felt but could not feel a pulse. She quickly began uselessly pouring healing chakra into him, meanwhile cursing Sasuke. Sasuke ignored her. He had closed his eyes as though savoring something, reopening them slowly as he revealed his newly changed sharingan.

His newly gained mangekyou sharingan.

Next Chapter: Restless Funerals

* * *

Pleaeeeeese don't hurt me for this chapter ending::shouts while running away to hide:: I will update again in about a day or so, I promise! (And all of you who read "Nameless Desires" chapter 7 thought _that_ was a cliffhanger.)

Special thanks to ShizunaKatja who has begun to translate this fic into Spanish! You can find a link to it on my profile under Favorite Stories, as well as a link to ShizunaKatja's profile under my Favorite Authors. Thanks again! - Jelp


	20. Chapter 20: Restless Funerals

**IMPORTANT!!! MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ CHAPTER 19! **This chapter was added just a day after Chapter 19 – make sure you didn't miss it! (If you do not recall a massive cliffhanger recently, then you have not read chapter 19.)

**Restless**

**Chapter 20: Restless Funerals**

Naruto felt himself being lost in Itachi's sharingan, his body going numb as he was thrust into a world of unimaginable pain at Itachi's hands with the mangekyou sharingan.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled.

Sasuke watched as Itachi grasped Naruto by his throat, lifting him so that he was closer to his eyes. Sasuke knew that he would only have mere seconds to act because the sharingan's effects on Naruto could seem like hours or even days in the matter of seconds. However, it was Itachi's distraction with Naruto that gave Sasuke the opening that he needed.

Powering up his chidori, with his sharingan blazing, Sasuke appeared behind Naruto with a kunai in his hand, and rammed his chidori and the kunai through Naruto's chest, straight through to Itachi.

Itachi grunted in pain and surprise. His eyes stared directly into Sasuke's.

As he stared into his brother's eyes, Sasuke felt anger well up inside him. Itachi still seemed impassive even though Sasuke had just thrust his hand through him. Sasuke withdrew his hand, watching as Naruto's body fell to the side, Itachi having let go of him. Itachi made a sudden move backwards, clutching at the wound in his chest, and then made sure to put enough distance between himself and Sasuke as he hopped to another treetop.

Sasuke's face finally contorted in the slightest of smirks, a deranged expression on his face as he stared at his older brother, noting how Itachi was clutching at his wound, and was breathing somewhat heavily.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed, as she at least, paid attention to the way that Naruto had gone deathly still as he fell from the treetop like a lifeless doll. Sakura screamed again as she caught him in midair, landing heavily on the ground with Naruto's extra body weight. "Naruto!" Sakura screamed in anguish as she felt but could not feel a pulse. She quickly began uselessly pouring healing chakra into him, meanwhile cursing Sasuke. Sasuke ignored her. He had closed his eyes as though savoring something, reopening them slowly as he revealed his newly changed sharingan.

His newly gained mangekyou sharingan.

For the first time in many years, Uchiha Itachi showed the slightest hint of fear upon his face as he looked at his baby brother's eyes.

"You did it after all," Itachi said conversationally, as though his chest was not dripping blood. Itachi hopped backward as Sasuke put the bloodied kunai in his hand back into his weapon's pouch, pulled his sword out from its sheath, and then took a wide slash at his brother as he himself jumped from the branch he was on to the tree that Itachi was in.

"I've waited years to kill you," Sasuke hissed, his mangekyou sharingan swirling dangerously. Itachi made no reply as he pulled a reddish-brown pill from his hip pack and popped it in his mouth, chewing hastily on it. Sasuke noted that it was a blood-replenishing pill, and he smirked, realizing that his brother must be in considerable danger if he were using a blood-replenishing pill already.

"Naruto!" Kakashi cried, but Sasuke paid little attention to Kakashi who had snatched Naruto from Sakura and was currently cradling Naruto's body in his arms, his face contorted in utter anguish and pain as he shook his head in disbelief as he held his dead nephew. "No," Kakashi moaned, as he shook Naruto, willing him to wake up, but he lay still. He wasn't breathing, and he had no pulse. His face was unnaturally pale, and his body seemed to have dropped in temperature by an alarming ten degrees. Sakura stood behind Kakashi, her grief clear upon her face as she watched her usually laidback and stoic teacher sob over Naruto's body. Kakashi's uncharacteristic show of emotion seemed to make everything so much harder to take. "Damn you Sasuke!" Kakashi hollered.

Sasuke ignored him. No one else mattered right now. All that mattered to Sasuke at the moment was that he kill his brother: that he take his revenge.

"Let's finish this," Sasuke said. This time, it was he who instigated the battle with his brother, not a battle of flesh, but a battle of minds. He locked eyes with Itachi, initiating the battle of mangekyou against magekyou.

It was a strange feeling, as Sasuke felt his mind practically expand. He felt as though he himself were expanding, controlling everything. It was not like a gensutsu that he cast, but rather, _he_ was the illusion. _He_ was the world in which his mangekyou ruled. The only thing that felt out of his control was his brother, which he had managed to bring into this sharingan universe with him.

Sasuke's head swam at the slightly foreign feeling of controlling the atmosphere and the universe in which he and his brother were in. His brother's sharingan was also swirled in the three triangular arms that indicated that he too was attempting to control the world.

Attempting, and failing.

Sasuke had won the battle of the setting. Itachi was physically weaker due to the wound that the chidori and _especially the kunai blade_ had created. Not to mention that he had used some of his chakra on Naruto, no doubt using his infamous "World of the Grasping Moon" technique, but Sasuke vowed not to underestimate Itachi. Itachi was still older than him, had more experience, and probably more chakra than he did, despite the fact that Itachi had already used some of his up when fighting Kakashi and the others. Still, Sasuke couldn't help but smirk, feeling elated than his plan had worked even better than he had anticipated. The unexpected aid from Konoha was really playing into his plan. He was the poisonous snake that had attacked the larger prey.

The scenery around them vanished as time and space bent to the will of the sharingan in preparation for battle. Sasuke had chosen the fake grounds for their fight. His mind had created the world set out before them, the world in which the gray sky was ominous, clouds overhead, the sky looking as though it would begin to pour down upon them at any moment. Sasuke and Itachi stood across from each other on top of water. In the background, cliffs with a raging waterfall stood behind them, Itachi still dripping blood from the wound in the right side of his chest. Itachi faced Sasuke. Itachi's eyes didn't move but he seemed to know what Sasuke's mind had recreated for their battle of minds.

"The Valley of the End?" Itachi asked, a slight hint of amusement in his voice. "My my, little brother, I didn't expect you to be so sadistic." Itachi's voice was quiet, and was still coming out as slow and uncaring as ever despite the fact that he should be gasping for breath with his wound. "Another Akatsuki member witnessed your battle with the Kyuubi vessel here."

"His name is Naruto," Sasuke hissed out.

"His name _was _Naruto," Itachi corrected him, looking bemused. "I didn't believe you capable of murdering your most important person," Itachi murmured, eyeing his younger brother. "I must confess that I am quite disappointed in you," Itachi said. Sasuke gritted his teeth, but said nothing. He knew Itachi was trying to provoke him, but he would not let him do so. Sasuke had made his choice long ago. He knew that Naruto would forgive him – even if it took him begging forgiveness in the after life.

Sasuke balanced his weight to the center as he took a fighting stance, a sword appearing in his hand. Itachi took a similar stance as a sword also appeared in his hand. He had finally gotten some control in this sharingan world. He had created a sword, and his wound (in their mind battle at least) had stopped bleeding.

Itachi attacked first, his sword swinging so fast that it didn't appear as though his body was moving with it, but Sasuke parried it, his hand coming up to hold his faithful sword, Kusanagi. Their blades clanged and clashed in flurry of movement. Their hands and arms were blurs as they slashed, parried, slashed.

Taking a wide sweep with his arm, Sasuke slashed his blade along the surface of the water, the spray coming up and clouding Itachi from view. Sasuke jumped over the spray, his blade coming down and slashing into the spot where Itachi should have been. His feet touched ground before he jumped up again, barely missing the blade that appeared beneath the surface of the water, Itachi having vanished beneath the surface when the spray had blocked him from Sasuke's view.

Now it was Itachi who flipped in the air, his blade coming down in a vertical arc on top of Sasuke. Sasuke used the back of his left armguard to hold the blade of his sword, while he gripped the hilt in his right hand tightly to block the assault. Even so, the force of Itachi's blow caught him off balance, and his body fell backwards against the water, but he used the momentum of the force of Itachi's attack to continue to roll himself backwards, once again springing to his feet. He made as though to lunge toward Itachi, but Itachi had put enough distance between Sasuke and himself in just a few moments, and Itachi had started to move on to more interesting mind games before Sasuke had a chance to attempt another counterattack.

Around him, Sasuke saw hundreds of Itachi's appear, all of them holding their swords over a kneeling figure, a smaller, blond-haired figure.

"You killed him so quickly, Sasuke, you didn't enjoy it. You didn't get to the _heart_ of things properly. Let me show you how it is done." One by one, all around him, an Itachi replica took his sword and ran it through Naruto in various manners. The hundreds of Itachis did not all kill Naruto at once; each Itachi made sure to kill his Naruto at random so that Sasuke had to relive the death of his most important person hundreds of times over. Sasuke's body froze, as he realized that Itachi was killing the many Narutos in the exact same manner that he had killed their clan's people.

Sasuke's mind began to wander back to the horror that he had seen at Itachi's hands. Slowly the scenery around him changed, and the sky began to grow red, the clouds dark, the scenery around them blurs of various reds and blacks, the only color variant was the other ninja and the moons that began to rush by them in the sky, indicating Itachi's twisted form of the passage of time. Sasuke's breathing sped up, and he had to bite his own hand to calm down.

Itachi had taken over control of their joint mangekyou battle.

"You were too naïve Sasuke. You thought that by killing Naruto you could ease your suffering. You thought if I were dead, your suffering would end, but you were wrong. It has only just begun. I was right. You were never a murderer. You were too innocent; now you will pay for your mistake one million times over before I let you escape this place," Itachi explained quietly as the Narutos around him were killed over and over again. One of the Narutos was beheaded, its head rolling at Sasuke's feet, blue eyes wide and staring up at him. Sasuke directed his gaze across the terrible scene as Naruto's blood was spilt over and over again.

Then, the figures around him began begging. They began screaming. Each of the Narutos began to beg for Sasuke to save him. They all cried out random accusations and pleas.

"Murderer!"

"Don't let him kill me like you did!"

"Murderer!"

"You killed me!"

_"Murderer!" _

"No!" Sasuke placed his hands over his ears, blocking out the sounds of his most important person dying over and over again. Crying on things to him over and over again. _Murderer._

Sasuke began walking forward, his eyes gazing over everything, his body and mind trying to resist both the urge to gag and to run away. He continued to walk forward, his eyes searching and finding a spot close to where he knew the "real" Itachi was, if there could be such a thing as such one embodiment of the mind, and stopped. He closed his eyes, even as the scream continued, taking a deep shuddering breath. He knew this wasn't real. He was in control. He had spent too many years waiting, too many months planning, for him not to exact his revenge. Sasuke would kill Itachi. He had to.

As Sasuke began to calm down, and he once again began to take back some control, another kneeling-figure appeared at Sasuke's feet, but this time a figure of his own choice. The figure had dark hair like he and his brother, and even looked somewhat similar. His eyes were dark black, and Sasuke gazed back into a face that he had not seen in eight years.

Sasuke lifted his sword. With a slow swipe, he cut through the air with his sword, intending to behead his chosen victim, but his intended blow never landed. Metal clanged on metal as Itachi stood before him, his blade preventing Sasuke from continuing with the act. Sasuke smirked. The many Itachis and Narutos around him vanished as Sasuke once again took full control of the mangekyou world.

"You are foolish, older brother," Sasuke murmured, mimicking something that Itachi had said to him many times before. Itachi's eyes were wide, as he looked down on the ground to see that the figure had vanished. Itachi let out a low curse.

"How did you know?" Itachi asked, his voice thick with emotion for the first time in years, tears springing to his eyes, threatening to spill. "How did you know that I would stop you from killing our cousin, from killing Uchiha Shisui?" Itachi whispered the name as the world of darkness, moons, and reds vanished as Sasuke's mind created the recreation of the outside of his home, the home he had burned to the ground just two nights before.

"When you dismissed the accusations of killing Shisui, you closed your eyes in something like regret. He was your most important person. He was the one that you cared for above everyone else. You said once that he was like an older brother to you. I should have suspected something then, and I found the evidence within our clansmen's homes. It was your mistake not to burn the Uchiha complex, but perhaps you wanted me to know. I still remember you visiting the family shrine every day, searching through the family book that told the secret of the mangekyou sharingan. I returned there recently. I went back to Konoha, intending to burn the places where you murdered our family, but I went back to the shrine first. I went back, and I realized something that I had not noticed the one time I had looked in the clan's book before. There were tear stains on the pages."

Itachi's closed his eyes, but it did not stop the few tears that dripped from them.

"And it made me wonder. I knew that you were the one that used the book the most. Were those tears yours? If so, what would have created in you a hate so powerful that you wanted to destroy your most important person, and then your family? Before I burned everything, I went to Shisui's home on a feeling. I went to see what type of relationship you two had. I went to his house, into his room, an his journal was sitting there, lying on his bed, as though waiting to be found. I was, shocked, to say the least, when I read it," Sasuke said, his voice low.

"I had to read over the lines several times to make sure I had really read what I had. I would never have suspected that you and Shisui were so _involved_," Sasuke paused, looking at his brother. "But it explained your anger what the diary wrote about Shisui's father finding out that you two were having sex, then threatening both of you with banishment from the clan. Shisui wrote that his father was disgusted. Two males having sex - first cousins no less, at only age thirteen."

"He was such a hypocrite," Itachi said quietly. "It wasn't as if first cousins haven't been marrying within our clan for generations. It was because we were both supposed to produce a proper heir that we were not allowed to be together. You didn't have that responsibility little brother. You never knew. You were the youngest, and you didn't have that burden. And then, father found out. He was disgusted as well and told me as the eldest, it was my responsibility to continue the proud family name. You, on the other hand, were free to choose. You were free to choose who was closest to you. I hated you so much Sasuke. You were free from the responsibilities. You didn't have the burden of carrying on the line as I did."

"So you escaped it the only way you knew how," Sasuke said, his voice dangerously low. "You murdered your own cousin, your lover, and then all of your family. You killed everyone - even those who would have supported you anyway, and the one who loved you!" Sasuke bellowed.

"And now the burden father wanted me to bear is left to you Sasuke. You must repopulate the clan. You can never be with the one you loved, your most important person either." Itachi finally smiled, a small sadistic smile. "You now know what it is like to share my pain."

"But you're wrong. I would never kill someone I love like that," Sasuke said.

Itachi shook his head. "You killed-"

"Naruto's not dead," Sasuke said, smirking wide. Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Naruto is dead, Sasuke. You would not have obtained the mangekyou other wise," Itachi said.

"Naruto _was _dead," Sasuke corrected him, mocking Itachi's earlier tone. "Do you think I am as coldhearted as you? No. You did not look at the other options Itachi. I am surprised that you did not look closely at the wording. _'Only those who stop the beating of the heart of their most precious person and touch the stilled heart with their bare hands, only then will they obtain the mangekyou sharingan,'_" Sasuke recited from the Uchiha family book. "I'm sure it was meant to be that you had to kill the precious person in order to obtain it," Sasuke smirked smugly, "but I got around it," Sasuke explained, clearly pleased with himself.

"I didn't and don't want Naruto dead - for good. Naruto can heal from my chidori wound, he has done it before, and he will do it again. I only needed to stop his heart. And I did that _without_ the chidori. You see, the kunai in my hand was laced with venom. Normally this type of poison will kill a person within a matter of minutes. However, due to my foresight, Naruto is now resistant to this poison. Instead of beginning to _attack_ his internal organs (which would normally have killed Naruto) it immediately _shutdown_ his bodily functions and froze them. Instead of killing him, it instantly put his body into a sort of – hypothermia – if you will. This shutdown of the organs is like being frozen; one can survive without a heartbeat for quite sometime if the body is shutdown properly in a chilled state. Though of course, the other effects of the cold will eventually permanently kill the victim. In the normal time that it would take the poison to kill someone is the same amount of time that Naruto will be in this hypothermic state." [AN: You can really survive without sustaining any permanent injury or brain malfunction in a hypothermic state for approximately 3.5 hours without a heartbeat.

"So you touched his heart with the side of your bare hand, his heart that would be unaffected by your chidori in this hypothermic-like state?" Itachi pondered out loud. Sasuke gave a slight nod.

"Chidori was the easiest way for me to touch his heart without killing him, and it also served as a ruse in order to make _you_ think he was dead for good. By the time that we finish here, Naruto's heart might even be beating again and his body healing," Sasuke explained.

"Are you so sure, little brother? I made him relive countless hours of pain - countless torments while in my mangekyou-"

"Do not lie. I am not stupid. You cannot do the mangekyou to the same degree to Naruto that you have done here, or else you would not have been able to stand a chance. You are also weakening. You were hit with the same kunai that held the poison! All of your strength is fading, Itachi. The poison on the blade not only went into Naruto's system, but it went into your system as well! It is already making it difficult for you to keep control. Don't you see? Even though time stands still here, your body was already affected that much from the poison in the few moments it took us to engage in battle," Sasuke said, hissing.

Itachi closed his eyes once more.

"Akatsuki is still after Naruto. Someone will come for him, even if it's not me."

"Your words have no meaning any more. I will not let you try and bring me down, play any more mind games with me through words. Do you think I haven't thought that through either? It will take time, but soon, Kyuubi will no longer be in Naruto's body, but separated from him into another, more easily controlled body," Sasuke paused, looking down at his brother with utter loathing.

"It will never work. It will kill him. You're going to lose him in the end anyway. You are foolish. You should have killed him. It is easier when they are gone and you no longer worry about them," Itachi murmured. Sasuke sneered.

"I would have pitied you for your loss, brother, even if it was you who committed Shisui's murder. You were struck with grief, and sought a way out - but you were cruel. You were brutal. You killed innocent people. The clan would have been angry at your affair, but you should have chosen banishment if you desired to be with him that much. You were foolish. You focused too much on the fact that I had used chidori, and not on the possibility that there was poison on the blade. If you had realized, perhaps you could have escaped, saved yourself. Now – now you are too weak, too pathetic to even save yourself. You lost from the beginning of this battle. Good-bye, Itachi." Sasuke raised his sword, and swung, decapitating the man that had made hell seem real on earth for Sasuke.

At Itachi's "mental" death, the parallel world around Sasuke cleared, and he was once more standing in the thick forest at the border of Konoha. His real sword was angled down, and the last act that he had performed in the mangekyou world, he had performed with his body as well. He saw Itachi's body and severed head falling limply from the treetops, Sasuke's sword soaked in Itachi's blood.

Sasuke took a deep breath, a weight seeming to lift from his shoulders. He was free. Finally he was free from the burden from having to chase his brother. He had avenged his clan, and he could live the rest of his life out the way he wished. Itachi had tried to taint him with his words of reviving the clan. Perhaps Itachi had guessed about his and Naruto's relationship, tried to use it to make him feel regret, but right now, he felt utter euphoria. Right now he felt free. He felt drained from chakra use. He felt complete. He felt ready to fall to the ground. He felt so alive. He felt-

-a hand sticking through his chest.

Sasuke looked down, half-horror stricken, half-dazed as a hand, making a chirping noise, surrounded by blue chakra stuck through his chest from behind. The hand that he dimly recognized as Kakashi's pulled out of him, and Sasuke felt the blood well up in his mouth before slumping forward, doing what he could in an attempt not to fall as his vision began to swim - and then images of his life began to flash before his eyes as he tumbled almost in slow motion to the forest floor below.

The smiling face of his mother and the stoic face of his father.

One of his aunts giving him a set of kunai for his fifth birthday when he was to enter the academy.

Itachi giving him a piggyback ride home from practicing in the woods.

His mother and father lying drenched in a pool of blood.

Overlooking the lake all alone at a sunset.

Naruto, Sakura, and he all telling Kakashi about their life goals.

Sakura asking him on a date.

Naruto's face as he slept while they're bodies moved.

Gaara fighting him.

Leaving Naruto at the Valley of the End.

Kabuto and Orochimaru explaining to him the benefits of the summoning technique.

The snakeskin that Dokueki left at the end of his bed.

Having sex with Naruto for the first time.

Making love to Naruto last night.

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed out, a smile on his face as he remembered that last thought, thinking about the word love.

Sasuke's world went blank, and the eyes of Uchiha Sasuke closed for the last time.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke as the younger ninja tumbled from the tree tops, his body lifeless as it fell through the air, hitting random branches as it fell and landed with a sickening thud. Tears streamed down Kakashi's face as he looked back down on the ground not at Sasuke, but to where Sakura bent over Naruto's body, uselessly trying to pour life into the lifeless being. Kakashi shifted his eyes slightly to look at the ground to the left, seeing both Itachi and Sasuke lying there.

Dead. All three of them dead.

Sai and Hinata were standing close to Naruto and Sakura. Sai's face was expressionless; Hinata's full of turbulent and heart wrenching pain. Kiba, Yamato, and Shino were all observing from a distance away as they looked at the dead shinobi.

And it was all his fault.

He should never have tried to persuade Sasuke to go after Naruto. It was his fault, and his alone. He had pushed Naruto to be Sasuke's most important person, and now he was dead. Sasuke had killed his nephew in order to gain the mangekyou sharingan, the mangekyou that he had told Sasuke when explaining about their connection.

_"Naruto is the one that causes the strongest emotions to rise within you...He is forever linked with your sharingan."_

And Kakashi had had to kill his pupil. What was he going to tell Tsunade? What was he going to tell Kyohaku? What was he-

A sharp intake of breath caused him to stop his musings. His eyes flew back towards Naruto who had shot bolt upright, breath returning to him. Naruto gasped and sputtered for air. Sakura looked at him with shock in her intelligent eyes. Suddenly, the wound in his chest that had refused to heal began to repair itself immediately. Sai actually smiled, a genuine smile, and Hinata looked as though she wanted to pass out from sheer happiness. Naruto's body began to shake violently as the after affects of Itachi putting him through the mangekyou sharingan began to take place. Of course Sakura was ready to treat this. She placed her hands onto Naruto's head and began to heal his mental traumas just like Tsunade had done for Sasuke – but giving special care not to overdo it and have a loopy Naruto like they'd had a loopy Sasuke. After about a minute, Sakura then put her hands back on the chidori wound, helping along the Kyuubi's chakra, and it healed within another few moments.

Kakashi felt elated as he realized that Naruto was alive, and then utter horror and shock as he turned his gaze once again to the fallen body of Sasuke.

"No," Kakashi whispered horrified to himself. He had killed Sasuke when Sasuke hadn't killed Naruto. What would Naruto think of him when he learned what he had done? Although he knew that Naruto had not looked up into the trees, Naruto's gaze began to search around him as though looking for Sasuke's body. His gaze seemed to find Sasuke almost instantly despite the number of trees that could have blocked his view.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice low and unnaturally solemn. He sounded incredulous. Kakashi knew that it was not possible for Naruto to see Sasuke properly at the angle that he was at, but Kakashi had a feeling that Naruto knew, that Naruto knew that Sasuke was dead.

Naruto got up, but Sakura tried to pull him back down. He shook her off and weakly stumbled past the few trees that separated him from Sasuke.

"No," Naruto whispered. "No! No! No!" He flung himself onto Sasuke's body and began to sob. It was then that the rest of the people seemed to realize what had happened. Sakura gasped and looked horrified at Sasuke's lifeless body. Yamato looked upward, and he met Kakashi's eyes. Yamato pressed his lips together firmly; pitying the other man he gazed at.

Kakashi felt frozen in the trees. He no longer wanted to look down, no longer wanted to breathe, but fate was not being kind to him. Naruto looked up once again seeming to find what he sought instantly, his eyes meeting Kakashi's, and with one glance he knew what had happened. The wound on Sasuke's chest was all too clearly his raikiri for Naruto not to know. Kakashi hopped down from branch to branch, and landed softly in the grass. Naruto clutched Sasuke's body closer to him at Kakashi's approach, and the sudden gesture made Kakashi's steps falter.

"I – I – I thought-" Kakashi began, wanting to explain himself. He felt numb. Naruto was alive. Sasuke had not killed him, and it appeared as though he had never intended too. It also appeared that Naruto had known that all along. Why hadn't he trusted Naruto? Kakashi's mind was not even allowing himself to process the fact that he had killed his own student when he had had no need to.

"You thought he had killed me, so you killed him?" Naruto said, his voice unexpectedly calm despite the tears that flowed freely down his face. Kakashi could merely stare at Naruto, no longer able to speak in his shock. No one else spoke as Naruto quietly laid his head down upon Sasuke's chest and continued to weep in silence.

* * *

Returning to Konoha passed in a blur for Naruto. Everything felt numb and unrealistic. There had been no sign of Dokueki or Kabuto at the campsite they had just vacated. By all accounts, it looked like no one had been there at all. Naruto's grief stricken brain hoped that Dokueki was okay too; Sasuke had mentioned that she feared death in her own realm. In the moments that the Konoha team had come to see what had happened to Naruto, Kisame's body had vanished; either taken – or either he was not as dead as they had thought. Yet Kisame's and Kabuto's disappearance wasn't even worth worrying about for Naruto. 

Naruto was only half coherent as Sasuke's funeral procession took place, only partially even aware that time had passed. He could have been back in Konoha for a few moments or years for all his brain could register. His grandmother and great-grandparents stood by his side, but he hardly registered their presence. As Naruto watched Sasuke's body being carried on a sort of stretcher along the streets of Konoha by six masked ANBU members, Naruto felt hollow and empty. It felt as though he were watching his own funeral, as though he had died with Sasuke. This wasn't just Sasuke's funeral; it was his as well. Without Sasuke, a part of Naruto had died forever.

Things began to come back to painful reality as his eyes glued themselves to the dead body of his best friend, his lover, as Sasuke's body was marched down the streets of Konoha. Naruto was not sure how Tsunade had managed this last right, this last honor, when it was well known that ANBU were supposed to dispose of a fallen shinobi's body quickly and efficiently as soon as they had found it. Perhaps that was only for rogue nins, and that since Sasuke was the last Uchiha, there had been some sort of clan right that had to be upheld?

Kakashi or Sakura might be able to tell him, but Naruto didn't dare ask either of them. Sakura was barely managing to keep standing in her grief, and Kakashi - well, Naruto didn't want to talk to him. He was angry with him, and he was afraid he would say things he would regret.

Even though he was angry with Kakashi, he honestly did not blame him. He was sure that he would have been in a similar state of rage if he thought someone had killed someone close to him as well. Naruto tore his eyes away from Sasuke's motionless body to see if he could spot Kakashi in the crowd.

He looked over across the line of people standing on either side of the procession close to where the actual funeral pyre stood to see Kakashi looking expressionless as he too stared at the body of the boy who had once been a ward on his team. Naruto knew that Kakashi's self torment would be horrible at the moment. Kakashi had let them know the day that they officially became a team that anyone who abandoned a teammate was worse than scum. Perhaps Kakashi had felt that Sasuke had been worse than scum, abandoning them like he had, but it was clear that Kakashi regretted being the one that had killed him when Sasuke hadn't ever intended to fully kill Naruto.

Redirecting his gaze, Naruto mused about the elaborate attire that Sasuke wore, thinking that it made Sasuke look like a prince. Sasuke had been dressed in magnificent robes of dark blue and an undershirt of pure white silk, with just a splash of red on the edges of his sleeves where two Uchiha fans had been stitched.

After staring at Sasuke, taking in his strangely beautiful appearance, Naruto finally felt something through his numbness as he felt the tears that had begun to stream down his face, but he didn't bother wiping them away. They didn't feel like they were a part of him any more. He couldn't feel himself crying, as though the tears were just mere splashes of water, continuingly flowing freely down his cheeks, unable to properly feel. His emotions didn't want to work anymore, and a part of him wanted to die, holding Sasuke's unnaturally still and peaceful body.

There were very few times that Naruto could remember seeing Sasuke's face looking so calm and serene, and Naruto couldn't help but hope that Sasuke was at peace, his tormented soul finally at rest after he had spent so many years filled with hateful desire to fulfill his clan duties and to claim revenge upon his older brother.

Everything felt surreal as Sasuke's body was lifted on top of the funeral pyre - the sticks patterned in such a way that even the Uchiha fan had been worked into the elaborate wood that would be used to create Sasuke's ashes. Someone was speaking, and Naruto thought it might have been Tsunade, but he wasn't listening. Naruto's eyes were so fixated on Sasuke, desperately hoping, desperately praying for a miracle. Sasuke would sit up and everything would be okay. He couldn't be dead. He wasn't dead. The voice speaking about Sasuke stopped, and Naruto half expected Sasuke's voice to say something in the silence, but Naruto saw someone lift a torch to the bottom of the funeral pyre as Sasuke lay quite motionless.

Suddenly Naruto felt panicked. They couldn't light that! Sasuke was on top of that! He made a sudden lurch forward, but Sakura's light touch to his arm held him still.

"Naruto - Sasuke, he - he's really gone. I helped Tsunade dress his b-body for the p-p-pyre, and there's n-no way he could still be-" Sakura stuttered out what she could before succumbing to her tears. Naruto watched the fire, the flames rising from the base to the top of the pile, licking at Sasuke. Naruto felt like screaming, but nothing could come out of his mouth, and he felt as though he were in one of those dreams where you need to scream for help but no sound will come out. His mouth formed words, shouts, yells, but still nothing came out as he watched the fire begin to spread to Sasuke's clothing.

"Move Sasuke," he tried to yell, though still no sound emerged. "Damnit Sasuke, move!" Naruto formed the words soundlessly, willing, begging, pleading that Sasuke hear him and that Sasuke come back to life, come back to him. 'Come on Sasuke, you're good with fire! This is nothing. Just escape it - get out of it now!' Naruto thought as he watched the flames rise so high that he could only see the shriveling of the robes that had burned away, and Naruto looked away, knowing that if he looked hard enough that he would see Sasuke burning...

Naruto turned and began to run, jumping when he could from the ground to the nearest rooftop, Sakura and his family shouting his name, but he didn't stop. He just ran, had to run, run away from what was left of Sasuke, from what would no longer be left of Sasuke. Tears streamed down his face, and he was gasping for breath as he ran, the sobs wracking his body so hard. He ran to the top of the Hokage Mountain to look at the face of his father - another of his loved ones that had been stolen from him.

"Chikuso!" Naruto hollered, as he looked at the face of his father. "Why? Why Sasuke?" He yelled, as though someone would possibly be able to answer him. He sat down on the ground, and buried his face in his knees as he cried out angrily. "Damn you Sasuke! Fucking bastard!" Naruto yelled into his knees, as he pounded the ground. "Teme!" Naruto hissed fiercely, angrily. He hated Sasuke for making him feel so much; he hated Sasuke for making him cry – again.

All of the numbness had vanished, followed by waves of tremendous grief, regret, and anger. Why hadn't Sasuke told him what his plans were? What would have happened if Naruto hadn't survived? Would Sasuke still be alive, or would this be a double funeral now? He knew that Sasuke loved him. He knew that. Why, why hadn't he just trusted him? Why hadn't Sasuke trusted him with his plan?

Naruto banged his fist on the ground repeatedly, crying out in rage, crying out in utter loneliness. It hurt so much, the loneliness. Even when Sasuke hadn't been around, he had at least been somewhere. Naruto had known that Sasuke was out there, and that Sasuke would always be out there, somewhere, understanding the same sorrow and loneliness that he felt. The feeling was unbearable, the feeling of know that he finally had a family, yet feeling so alone without Sasuke.

He had been so happy just a few days ago; a family he didn't know existed had appeared. Now, Naruto would never be able to introduce Sasuke to them. He would never be able to ask Sasuke how to act around his family. There were so many things that he hadn't realized that he had wanted to ask him and to do with Sasuke until he was gone. Naruto clutched at his heart, feeling a physical pain in his chest, his emotions overpowering him as he sobbed harder and harder, thinking about all the things Sasuke would miss - all the things that Naruto would miss about Sasuke.

"You know, you'll make yourself sick if you keep crying this much, dobe." Naruto's curses and sobs died immediately, as his body froze. He hastily wiped at the tears on his face, drawing in shaky breaths as his shinobi alertness kicked in.

Naruto looked around him, sure that he had heard Sasuke's voice right next to him, but he didn't see anything to his left or right. Naruto hurriedly stood up, and looked around him. "S-Sasuke?" He asked out loud to the air. Nobody was around. Swallowing, Naruto sat back down, realizing that he was just in so much grief that he was imagining Sasuke's voice.

"You are a dobe. You're not paying attention at all. I'm right here." Naruto stood up again, looking wildly around him. He licked his lips, wondering what the hell was going on. He knew no one was there, yet he said again. "Sasuke?"

"I'm right _here_," Sasuke's voice came again, strongly emphasizing the word here. Naruto's eyes darted around frantically, desperately, and he reached out into thin air, wondering if Sasuke knew a jutsu to make himself invisible. Perhaps Sasuke was a ghost? "I'm with you Naruto..." Sasuke's voice trailed off, and Naruto began looking around him wildly again.

"Where are you?" Naruto yelled, but this time there was no response. "Sasuke?" Naruto called out again. "Sasuke!!" Naruto hollered, but there was no response. Naruto shook his head, his body shaking as he sat back down again. "I'm just in shock," he told himself. He was hearing Sasuke's voice because he was in shock. Sasuke was gone; he was dead. The momentary elation that had hit him upon hearing Sasuke's voice again vanished instantly.

He was grasping for hope that was not there. He had held Sasuke's dead body in his arms all the way back to Konoha, had held him for hours without Sasuke stirring. Sasuke's case was not like Naruto's. Sasuke had died.

Naruto felt empty again as the silence reigned heavy on him, so heavy that he felt his body slumping over slightly, as though he really had extra weight on him.

Night had fallen before Sakura came to find him. She sat down next to him and placed her head on his shoulder. Naruto nearly jumped as a strange wave of jealousy surged through him, an emotion that didn't even feel like his own. Then again, Naruto didn't feel like himself. He looked over at Sakura to see that she looked like she too had been crying for hours.

"I can't believe he's gone," Sakura said quietly. Neither she nor Naruto spoke again as the stars above them rotated in their heavenly axis. Several quiet hours passed before Naruto finally broke the silence.

"You should go home and sleep," Naruto whispered. Sakura merely nodded, wiping at the long since dried tear stains on her cheeks as she got up, gave him a small wave, and jumped away to her house. Naruto took a deep breath, and headed back to his own apartment. He would need to go and see his family in the morning and apologize for running away from them without saying anything.

It seemed like years ago that he had woken in the middle of the night, the same night that he had found out of his heritage, with the Uchiha complex burning to the ground, Sasuke coming to take him away. Time seemed so unrealistic, so incomprehensible as he slipped through his open window upon his return home. He walked to the bathroom, where he went through the numb routine of getting ready for bed. As he washed his hands, he mechanically looked at himself in the mirror, only to jump in shock as he saw that his eyes were black, his whisker marks gone, and his hair dark. Naruto blinked his eyes, and the vision he had seen of Sasuke staring back at him rather than his reflection had vanished. Naruto look back down, his hands shaking as he finished washing them. Still, he couldn't help it as he glanced back up at the mirror again.

Again, he saw Sasuke's appearance reflecting at him from the mirror, but his own expression of surprise and shock were mimicked in the face in the mirror. Naruto's eyes widened as something even more shocking occurred. His mouth opened - his mouth that held Sasuke's facial features, and spoke - with Sasuke's voice.

"Looks like what I had planned didn't go so well. My soul got pushed out of my own body and into yours. It looks like we're going to be stuck with each other for a while until I figure out how to get another body for myself. If you hadn't been so succumbed with grief, you might have noticed I was trying to talk to you, and you could have gotten my body before it was burned. For now, we'll just have to share yours."

**Next Story: Identity Crisis**

Yes, "Restless" is over. The sequel "Identity Crisis" will be out sometime in the next month. Anyone who wants me to e-mail them when I post it, leave your e-mail address in the review (makes it easier than just going to everyone's profile to add it in), and I'll send you the link when I post it.

If you're asking: What happened to Dokueki? Where did Kabuto and Kisame disappear off to? And how the heck did Sasuke end up in Naruto's body? What was Sasuke talking about when he said Kyuubi would get a different body? Well, that's what the next story will answer.

Here's the summary for "Identity Crisis":

_Naruto helped Sasuke fulfill his revenge against Itachi: but at a costly price. With new duties expected of him by his long lost family, while meanwhile being forced to share the same body with Sasuke, Naruto's experiencing a major identity crisis. SasuNaruSasu_

After Identity Crisis is over, I will post an Epilogue that summarizes the happenings in it at the end of Restless for those of you who don't want to read a whole new story.

Thank you all for all of your reviews for Restless! - Jelp


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